We used Danish register data on rehabilitation benefits paid from 1994 to 2005. The purpose was to compare actual payments of rehabilitation benefits with intentions in the law. Legally, rehabilitation benefits should be used for providing living expenses during a planned rehabilitation period facilitating the recipients' return to the labor market. We found that one third of recipients were paid for less than 3 months, and half of remaining recipients had time gaps in their payments. The findings indicated that rehabilitation benefits were not paid only for planned rehabilitation periods, and that not all recipients followed the legally required plan.