Can Social Security pull a check out of someone's checking account?
My mom passed away on July 2nd. Her SS check was automatically deposited on the 3rd. Evidently the funeral home notified SS that she passed away, which is customary for them to do. By the 8th SS tried to pull the check back out but since I had sent some of her bills off there wasn't enough money left in her account which left her account overdrawn. Also, since there wasn't enough in the account for SS to collect they froze her account!!! After spending hours at the bank, talking to different people at SS (in person and over the phone) I was directed to the US Treasury Dept. (who issues the checks). Now, SS told me that the check was definitly my mother's since she passed away in July,reguardless of how early in the month, as it's for the month of June. The rather unpleasant person at the Treasury Dept. said this is not true!!!! Can someone clear this up?
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Like I said......someone told me this and it wasn't the ss people.
"Social Security benefits are paid on a monthly basis. The check (or direct deposit) for each month’s benefit is issued in the following month. For example, the check that an individual receives in February is for the benefit payable for January. This is referred to as a retrospective payment system. If a recipient dies late in the month, family members or the executor of the estate may not notify the Social Security Administration (SSA) in time to stop the payment. Subsequently, they are informed that the check must be returned to the government. Members of Congress are asked often to support legislation that would provide a full or partial benefit payment for the month of death."
So it looks like you have been cheated. Good luck getting it cleared up.
My grandmother passed away on November 29, and that ended up being about a 3 thousand dollar difference. What's bizarre is that hospice was essentially "putting her to sleep" which means it could have been easily deferred. Not that I would have chosen to do that, but sitting at my 6 day vigil at the hospice wing, I couldn't help but think about all the bill-paying hardships that many of the survivors must face in end-of-the-month cases. And how tough would it be anyway to help them by having the final checks be pro-rated?
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10008.pdf
and
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/forms/ssa-1724.html
If you read the previous posts, there's lots of really good info on how SSA does payments and is required to do.
It's really important to keep in mind that IF you do not live the entire month, the check(s) deposited (SS and any other retirements paid) the next month will be clawed back from the bank account. If there $ not still there, your surviving spouse will get NSF charges each time SSA or the retirement group attempts to do their required clawback.
My mom died almost at the end of the month. Both SSA and federal retirement (from my dad) were deposited into her account on the 3rd of the following month. SSA clawback within 3 weeks; fed's was 7 weeks later. If I had taken the $ out, there would have been $ 30 NSF charges each time an clawback attempt was made. You really need to try to have a permanent set aside in the account of whatever amount is your "income" each month if this account is used to pay bills as there will be a gap of maybe 3-4 weeks till the survivor payments start. The banks can freeze an account that has NSF charges outstanding which snowballs problems for the surviving spouse who is already stressed.
If the SS check received the month of death is taken back, the best thing to do is contact SS to work out what is likely a mistake made by SS or the bank.
1. As long as the recipient lives past 12:00:01 am on the 1st day of the month the following deposit (usually the 3rd) is valid.
2. Even so, most FIs will return it to the Treasury Dept. (Note: The money does NOT go to the SSA but to Treasury who disburses the funds), this is to protect themselves from being held liable for it (yes if an FI allows an SSA deposit to be removed by anyone but the Treasury AND it is deemed that it was not due the recipient THE FI is held liable by the Treasury, the FI then has to try and collect from the estate of family).
3. FIs differ in when the return the deposit. Some do it upon getting a death certificate, some wait until the Treasury issues a "draw" (SSA does not make the draw, only the Treasury can do so).
In my mothers case the bank is holding the funds pending a draw, once the funds are returned her account will show as "underpaid" at this time I will have to file form ssa-1724 to request the funds. SSA will determine my eligibility (valid and due me as I paid for the balance of her funeral and her estate was closed as insolvent), and then request that the Treasury send me the funds. What fun eh?
In conclusion yes, you are entitle to that final pay out but it's a long hard road dealing with this institution known as Social Security! Best of luck!
You may not have caught the fact that my fathers check that he was very much do entitled to receive never made it to his direct deposit, the state/social security stopped it in transit! So we never even saw it! But I knew he should have received it so I started my calls on behalf of my mom. And so the story goes that I already stated before. A year and a half later she finally received it after hundreds of calls which I kept a logg of with dates, times and names and what they said they were going to do and suggested I do etc... Plus which "call center" I was talking to. Since like I stated before you get random call centers answering and they are in different states.
I think the difference between your situation and ours is probably where you live to where we live. Illinois is hard up for money, So trust me if the state your in has anything to do with the dispursment of funds, that would answer why my dads was retracted so quickly. In your state they may not be in such financial bad shape so they are in no hurry. Either way it stinks!
Plus in your case, actually in all cases the survivor should get every penny up to the date of death for his or her spouse, ss should prorate if need be. Now that would be fair. Who am I kidding when is government ever fair or fully honest for that matter. In these cases who suffer the elderly survivors.
They use an antiquated formula to determine the cost of living increase (which for the past 4 years hasn't even begun to cover the increase in medicare and Advantagecare premiums, let alone the 20+% increase in food or co-pays) They base it mostly on the price of oil (and seniors drive less, consume less durable goods products) I bet they don't even factor in the increase in medical costs as part of COLA.
Anyone notice that they now call social security an "entitlement" (like welfare) It is our money (and our employers contribution) not taxpayer money. After the govt spent OUR money, OUR retirement that we were mandated to pay into - the govt spent it instead of investing it for us. We should be receiving twice the amount we are receiving if only the money for the past 50 years had been invested and compounded. And you are right - why shouldn't they prorate the last month of life. Why do they have the right to take back all of my mother's March payment when she 30 out of 31 days in March?
It really frightens me the way seniors have been kicked to the side by the government. I wonder if there will be any help for us in 10 years, will they ration our health care like they do in GB?