Is it mandatory to be a representative payee with SSA for my elderly father?

Social Security does not recognize POA, so if you anticipate having to communicate with or deal with social security on your father's behalf it might not be a bad idea to set up the rep payee process. One easy way is to help your father sign up for a "my social security" login. Once logged in, there is a place where he can click "Advance Designation of Representative Payee." There, he can designate one or more people (in order of priority); I think all that's needed in the person's name, relationship, and phone number. As I understand it, this is just a precaution in the event the person becomes unable to handle their own affairs. On the same "my social security" site you're able to update contact information, including address, so you or your dad wouldn't even need to call.

Social Security will not honor POAs, period. Your dad will have to be able to give them his social security number and permission to speak with you and allow you to change his mailing address. Every single time you need to speak with them on his behalf or you become representative payee and do the annual filings. No, it is NOT mandatory.

I handled my dads banking and SS without ever becoming Rep payee, everything possible was done online and with bank checks, my dad got 200.00 monthly cash and gave me 200.00 to cover his supplemental insurance premium that was paid with my credit card and his cell phone.

Becoming Rep payee means you have to account to SS for every penny annually. I understand this but, not every situation requires this kind of accountability.

You can have his doctor write a letter "To Whom it may concern",
stating that he has found no reason your father cannot handle his own affairs.
Even if he needs assistance for this with hands on help and financial counselors, it may not be necessary to have a rep-payee.

However, your father might need to appear at a Social Security office.

With a Rep-Payee, the person is not allowed to have access to their income.

If the first move did not trigger a need for rep-payee, it may not trigger it this time. Can you change the address online, from his online e-mail account?
Get one.

I am my BIL representative payee for social security. I had a doctor fill out the paperwork to get this and social security sent out a letter to him which he didn't answer so I became his rep payee.

He doesn't have to be diagnosed as incompetent to get this done. When you are his payee you can change anything like addresses or accounts. Also if you call SSA he can tell them that they can talk to you. I have done this too.

If you are his rep payee no one can touch his social security not even a POA of financial. I know this because my BIL's family tried to get POA of finances to get a hold of his social security didn't happen they gave up when social security said they will have to send a letter to me to see if I wanted to give it up. Which I didn't because I knew they would take every dime he has. Right now my BIL is in a nursing home in memory care because of dementia and I am still his rep payee.

Prayers to you and your family.

I have not done this...my mom not only gets SS, she had a job on a military base so she was a government worker, so her retirement income is handled just like SS.

I have medical and financial poa and I am on moms bank account. So far I have been able to handle everything necessary. If I ever have to make a change like where her checks are deposited or anything like that, it would be necessary for me to apply to be her representative payee. I am hoping it won't come to that. It's not that I know of anyone that has had issues, It just scares me to do anything that would jeopardize her money and I know the government has the power to freeze things up if they question what is going on.

Hello Anoncaregiver76,
I believe being a POA helps already. With a paper Power Of Attorney copy, I sent my mom's change of address to Social Security and they started sending everthing to my address. She lives in a facility eleswhere even. One of the articles in her POA says that copies are legally binding, so scanning them and sending PDFs to places that need them has saved a lot of paper and toner for us. She had this durable POA drawn up years ago.

To do/have her taxes done and sign them legally (I live a distance), I also filed with IRS using Form 2848 (Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative) to set up a CAF (Centralized Authorization File) Number which I use for other documents also. It's become helpful for me to have this number when also when places ask if I have authority to do something for her, and now that she's become even less able to sign her signature on lines where needed.

Hope this helps! Best of luck!

(copy and paste)

https://www.ssa.gov/onlineservices/?gclid=CjwKCAiAy_CcBhBeEiwAcoMRHGHIvoznAB0IvTc3IM_e1VUzqO3z8bHW7Z9oBllwi0RREJBV1-6tMBoCDu0QAvD_BwE

See if you can change the address on line. If you call, use his phone.

I needed to change my dads direct deposit for his SS check so I had to do this. It was an easy process.

My husband was POA for his brother in a nursing home, and another brother was the contingent POA. The brother in the nursing home has not been found to be incompetent, though he hasn't been able to personally handle his financial affairs for some time. After my husband passed away earlier this year, the second brother became the primary POA. When he went to the bank to let them know of the change, someone at the bank said he needed to also become rep payee, which is not technically true but he dutifully went and did that. The same bank never told my husband he needed to be rep payee. It turned out to be kind of a pain, because the social security check could no longer be deposited in the nursing home brother's existing checking account where his pension check was also deposited. Instead, a new account had to be set up in the name of the rep payee brother, for benefit of nursing home brother, so it is set up as "John Smith, FBO Bob Smith." Because NH brother is on Medicaid, most of his income has to go for his cost of care. To avoid having to write 2 checks from 2 different accounts, the bank suggesting setting it up so that there is an automatic transfer each month from the "social security account" into the existing checking account.

I don't remember honestly if I have any kind of special status with socsec or not - they know I will speak for her - at least give the intro long winded reason my mom is calling, and then I put her on the phone. COPD making it hard for her to get into big chats. We changed her address online I think. Things being doable online has made life so much easier. She just watched me do it all through the PC.

Also seeing that one can set advanced payee and that's good to know, I'll have to make a note to ask my mom about that later.