A friends roommate passed away on Nov 3rd, 2015 - His SS check was deposited Nov 2nd, 2015 into their joint checking acct. Now some 4 years later they have overdrawn her acct by taking back the check that her friend received in November of 2015. They were never married and were just friends - She let him be on her account for convenience and to help pay bills as she took care of him. He died suddenly on November 3rd - She was not his POA, wife, or relative- just a friend
Next question: what does she want to do about it? Does she want to claim back the money? Or does she want to make a formal complaint, if for example they did this without giving her notice of the withdrawal?
I’m surprised it took 4 years but maybe it took them this long because the checking acct was joint? Did his estate just settle as well?
You will need to find your bank statements for that period and prove otherwise to them.
Friend needs to contact SS. I would go to the office with proof of death and deposit info.
https://www.ssa.gov/planners/survivors/ifyou.html
If the deceased was receiving Social Security benefits, you must return the benefit received for the month of death and any later months.
For example, if the person died in July, you must return the benefits paid in August. How you return the benefits depends on how the deceased received benefits:
For funds received by direct deposit, contact the bank or other financial institution. Request that any funds received for the month of death or later be returned to Social Security.
Benefits received by check must be returned to Social Security as soon as possible. Do not cash any checks received for the month in which the person dies or later.
So "YES", the SS can and will take money out of the account that the SS check was deposited in. Since the account was a "JOINT" Checking Account--both the friend and the roommate were owners of the checking account and since that is the checking account that the SS check was deposited into, then SS had the right to "take back" the SS check from that account. As to why SS took 4 years before they took back the SS check money, maybe they were not notified that the person had died until 4 years later. It is not SS's fault that the friend's checking account became overdrawn when the SS check was taken.