quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
All I'm asking is whether my sister has any liability to the Social Security Administration in the event they want to take back a payment?

Then call the SSA and ask. I've posted the phone number twice so far.

Don't rely on your Internet/SigForum friends to give you this kind of advice. Your definitive answer is just a phone call away.

How long does it take for the funeral home to get around to informing the SSA of your mother's passing? You are getting to the point (end of November) where the SSA may end up processing another payment for your mother.

Kill two birds with one stone - call the SSA to get the answers to your questions and let them know of your mother's passing. It's a Saturday; they are available (at least Medicare was last Saturday when I called them).

How many times do I have to say it ? They CAN'T process any more payments . There is NO ACCOUNT to deposit it in . The Funeral Home will notify SS . The SS website says so . I have been down that road previously .

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
How many times do I have to say it ? They CAN'T process any more payments . There is NO ACCOUNT to deposit it in .

I would go to the extra effort of contacting the SSA, myself, if for no other reason than to preempt the possibility of identity theft. E.g.:

quote:

Identity Theft

Each day, thousands of dead people fall victim to identity theft—costing their survivors pain and financial loss.

Ref: Death Notice Double-Cross - Be careful with obituaries—scam artists are reading

If your mother becomes a victim of identity theft, it is quite possible your family will be on the hook for making it right, until and unless you can prove identity theft--which can be both time-consuming and expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
The Funeral Home will notify SS . The SS website says so . I have been down that road previously .

No, what the SSA site states is:

quote:

When a Social Security beneficiary dies, the death is usually reported to SSA by a family member, a funeral home, or a government agency.

But it's your life. Do as you wish. Personally, I tend to exercise an abundance of caution in such matters

My mother died on 11/01/10. She got a SS check on 11/02 or 11/03. I was a signer on the account and I closed the account. All the money went toward funeral expenses. SS sent me a letter requesting I return the money. I ignored it. Several months later, SS sent me a check $10 or $12. I discarded the check and haven’t heard anything since.

This is not advice, merely my experience.

quote:

But it's your life. Do as you wish. Personally, I tend to exercise an abundance of caution in such matters.

^^^^^ This.

I don't believe you are hearing us, but that's up to you. As ensigmatic said, do as you wish.

We are not responsible for any result of identity theft of my mother . Not sure how you can think we would be .
The funeral home said that SS will be notified . I have zero concerns there . That's not even the issue here . I thought my question was simple but I should have known better . I've seen how quickly things get convoluted around here .

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
All I'm asking is whether my sister has any liability to the Social Security Administration in the event they want to take back a payment?

Then call the SSA and ask them.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
All I'm asking is whether my sister has any liability to the Social Security Administration in the event they want to take back a payment?

Then call the SSA and ask them.

Remember those words ...

Ask the bank to reopen the account.

They will want the money back.

I nearly always recommend keeping an account like that open for at least a few months or 6 as you will have a way to process checks, etc that come on fit your mom.

Reopen the account ? There is no reason to go down that rabbit hole . Her affairs are settled except for the funeral Tuesday of next week . And it's paid in full at this point . Thanks , but not going there .

Yes she does.

So sorry about your mothers passing. Personally I would contact the SSA personally as soon as possible because you are dealing with a federal government agency. And we know how well and efficently they do their jobs. Even with your moms accounts closed and if the SSA issues more checks where are they going ???? .................................drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
So sorry about your mothers passing. Personally I would contact the SSA personally as soon as possible because you are dealing with a federal government agency. And we know how well and efficently they do their jobs. Even with your moms accounts closed and if the SSA issues more checks where are they going ???? .................................drill sgt.

Her SS payments were direct deposited . The bank account no longer exists .

If you do call SSA, don't call the 800 number - call your local office.

I tried to get through to them for months on the 800 number, waiting on hold for 45 minutes and then getting dropped (5-6 times).
I finally called the local office and got to someone quickly. They even told me not to call the 800 line.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
I believe what will happen is that the executor/personal representative of the estate will be responsible for making the SSA happy and if it happens that the last Social Security payment needs to be refunded by the estate, it will be up to the executor to collect from the sister on behalf of the estate.

But it may be different in your state.

Like I said , there is no Estate , no Executor . My sister had signature authority on the account so she closed it . We rented a storage unit for some of her belongings and used the rest on funeral expenses . There wasn't much to start with and it's gone now .

Your family may be proceeding on very invalid assumptions here. You'd be doing yourself (and them) a favor to get in front of that.

Seriously.

Your mother might not have had a will, but that only means she died 'intestate'. The state that you live in has a procedure that gets followed for settling the debts of, and collecting assets of, people who died intestate, as well as the default rules of inheritance in the absence of a will.

There may be times when distribution of assets and allocation of obligations is completely private, but dying intestate is not one of those times. I know this, as I was 'personal representative' for my brother who died intestate.

Believe me, the SSA knows that procedure under your state's laws and they will follow it. Here's an example of the SSA suing 'legatees' (people who received assets from decedent) personally to recover overpayments

Same goes for the IRS, who will want a final tax return from whoever has the authority to do that for you mother - authority defined by your state's laws.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
SS pays benefits a month behind. If she got a check in November, it was for the month of October when she was still alive, so that’s fine. If she still gets a check in December, that would be for the month of November, the month she passed, and they would take that back. That’s why you need to let SS know as soon as possible. Call SS yourself. Don’t depend on the funeral home or anyone else to do it for you.

Worked for SSA for 43 years. This is 100% correct. The facts are correct. The advice is correct. Since the account has been closed, if the Dec check (which is for Nov) gets issued, the bank will just return it. By the time that would happen the death information would be in the system. Everything will balance out. All is well. Nobody is going to go after anyone for anything. There has been no overpayment on the account.

My condolences on the death of your mother. You will have no problems or issues with this. All is well.

Look , my Mom had no assets . There was a total of 1800 dollars in the bank . She had not filed a tax return in many years and nobody has the authority to do it for her now . Somebody told her that her income was below the minimum and she didn't need to . I have no idea if that's true and I didn't worry about it . At this point , add it to list of things that don't matter anymore .
If SS manages to tie my sister to that bank account then we will share the cost of the overpayment . Done deal .

quote:

Originally posted by Fed161:

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
SS pays benefits a month behind. If she got a check in November, it was for the month of October when she was still alive, so that’s fine. If she still gets a check in December, that would be for the month of November, the month she passed, and they would take that back. That’s why you need to let SS know as soon as possible. Call SS yourself. Don’t depend on the funeral home or anyone else to do it for you.

Worked for SSA for 43 years. This is 100% correct. The facts are correct. The advice is correct. Since the account has been closed, if the Dec check (which is for Nov) gets issued, the bank will just return it. By the time that would happen the death information would be in the system. Everything will balance out. All is well. Nobody is going to go after anyone for anything. There has been no overpayment on the account.

My condolences on the death of your mother. You will have no problems or issues with this. All is well.

You posted while I was typing my post above . Thank you for your input .

In my limited experience... I have managed the estate for three relatives, all who were SS recipients in the past 5 years. In all three cases the Death Certs were created and notification to SS was made by the Funeral director, two different ones used, before the person was actually put in the ground.

Seems like Fed361 has you covered...