What happens to my dad's social security retirement check after he dies?

Perhaps it's because I don't like funeral homes that I suggest that the remaining spouse, executor, personal respresentative, or other designated person contact Social Security when there has been a death. Funeral Homes are in the business of making money, not beacuse they love humanity. I would not allow a funeral home or funeral director to touch the little $250.00 check or any other check that could be used to offset the cost of the funeral/burial. Take care of these expesnses yourself, and you'll feel better about it.

Donna 56: Your funeral director is incorrect. 1) You should contact Social Security yourself, instead of the funeral director regarding your father's death. Lots of people do not even have funerals, so S.S. does find out about the passing of a S.S. recipient. 2) Medicare payments are "taken out" of the S.S. payouts one month in advance. 3) S.S. payments are distributed in the month that they are "due" to the recipient. Some people receive their money on the 3rd of each month, and some receive it on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Other distribution dates may be in the process also. They will take the money out of his checking, savings, Money Market or wherever it goes in, once they know for sure that your Dad has passed. The government considers you dead the entire month that you die, whether it's the first of the month or the 31st. Been there as an executor, and as a personal reprsentative of S.S. recipients who have passed.

My dad just passed away last week. When we were making the arrangements, the funeral director said he cantacts SSA to let them know. Maybe they are required by law to do so. I really don't know, but my dad died on Feb.4th and his money was deposited say on the first of the month and the funeral director told us that was for the month before, therefore the money stays in his account and does not have to be paid back.

You forgot to say one thing, Igloo. Yes, the survivng spouse will get the greater of the two S.S. checks that they were receiving. However, the lesser check will be eliminated completely. It behooves a couple to examine the possibility that the younger (and possibly healthier) of the two take the S.S. check as early as possible, such as age 62, because it will "go away" when the spouse dies.

The surviving spouse receives the larger of the two Social Security checks. You must apply however. It's not automatic. When an S.S. recipient dies, that money goes also. They consider you dead during the entire month that you died.
Likewise in birth; if you were born on the 31st of December, they consider you alive during the entire year of your birth.........for tax puposes, not for the S.S.

One thing you may want to look into is taking that money from the joint account (if your name is on it) and paying the funeral home toward that persons final expenses, because funerals these days are very expensive to the point some families either go broke or abandon the deceased. Every little bit helps in the event of a funeral and final disposition. After you pay the funeral home, just close the account (if this was a joint account and your name was on it).

Hello, confused in Texas, My sister passed away on the 3rd of this month at about noon, and she gets her check deposited into her checking account on the 3rd of each month. So can my brother in law use her money to help pay for her funeral costs.

My daughter died on the 8th, her SS was direct deposited on the 11th, but then was immediately withdrawn. His SS stops cold on the date of death. She will still get her widow's benefits, but she will likely have to show the original death certificate with an appointment at the SS office.

No Boots, the S.S. checks go away when he dies. As a matter of fact, if one dies within the month after the check has been issued, the S.S. Administration takes it back! For example, if the check is received on, let's say the third of the month, and the S.S. recipient dies on the 31st of that same month, the money will go out of the checking account or wherever it is received, and that's it. The government considers you dead for the entire month, even though you lived until 11:59 p.m. on the 31st.

Boots - my understanding is that once a person dies his SS can be payable to a surviving spouse or ex spouse. If he has children under 18 then they can also get a SS benefit. If the children are disabled they can get a benefit till 21 then they go onto their own SSDI. SSA site has pretty straightforward details on this.

If you are an adult with your own children & have been basically living on your parents income, you now will need to either get a job or see if you qualify for some sort of governmental assistance. This is why it is really important that
IF you are providing caregiving that you need to have your folks pay you legitimately through a personal services contract so that you have income which you can save some$ for the future and also build your own SS work base credits for when you yourself retire.

Also I'd like to correct something I posted back in 2012, the death benefit of $255 is only available to the surging spouse. Not to family. Another good reason why to do talk about doing a preneed with a FH.

I was wondering since my father took care of me and my boys,i was wondering if i get his ssi checks because i was tooking care of bye my fathers ssi and his retirement.my income was coming from my father that passed away on me,and we lost my mother in 03.what happens sinces my father took care of me do i get his ssi checks bc im not able to work?

Leonard: There ain't no S.S. payments after you die. Nobody gets anything.

stay on same topic

as a social security receipient can I select who gets my payments when I die

I'm amazed at the long involved answers to this simple question. The S. S. check goes away! When one dies, and I am assuming that you mean the monthly S.S. check, not the one-time payout ( $255.00), the Social Security Administration stops paying that S.S. number. The number is " retired" into the archives. Boom.

SS is paid in arreard. My sister died mid-January. FH in MA did get Death Ceter. but SS was not notified, unlike my Mom and dad in NY state. Her check for Jan stayed in her account, but because of the delay in notification the Feb. check for Feb. had been paid and then withdrawn by SS. The $250. benifit is only available to the first spouse, nothing after that. Mom's benifit will go up as Dads will no longer be available. My Mom received the amount Dad had received, her amount was no longer available. Hope that helps. I was surprised when I had to notify SS myself, since it had not been the case with my parents. Different FH and different state. Hope this helps, if not I believe the 800# above is the correct #.

Good funeral home will help-that should be a consideration when choosing the one to use if you have time interview them and do not be afraid asking them what they will do for you-I made the mistake of using the one my family had always uses and also paying they right away and they only gave me a list of phone numbers-most of which were wrong a friend got much help with SS and others -they did all the work for her but her husband was sick for a long time and mine died unexpectedly after a few days so she had the time and I think her husband arranged things for her before he died.

Here in California, my mom died like 2 yrs ago and the FH made the notifications so quickly that her bank acct became frozen within days. My brother who had authorization to sign checks and to withdraw funds found out that if he had indeed written a check for her last expenses would have indeed had the check retruned to hime for INSF. SSA check and VA check was returned in less than 7 days. The whole acct was closed and life insurance the bank carried on the acct pd in less than 30 days from the date of death. So, the FH notifications worked quickly. I am thankful for all of the help given by our local FH. Sorry to for your loss.

Nolen - Sorry for the loss of your dad. It must be a difficult time for you.
Any heir or family can qualify for the one time "death benefit" of $ 255.

There are 2 types of SSA benefits, retirement (usually called SS) and disability
(which is called SSI or SSDI). Retirement survivor benefits go to a qualifying spouse or even a former spouse; a child under 18 (this age can be raised to 19 - 22 if full time college or if child certified disabled). SSA has a set formula on how spouse's and children's are done and qualify for. Disability benefits usually do not transfer to surviving family. Did you dad get both?

Your dad paid into the SSA and got benefits from SSA by receiving disability. The money that workers pay into SSA are in a central trust and used for claims. Some pay into never get a disability payment.Others never leave a survivor benefit either because they die before retirement age, or never work the credits needed to get SS or had no qualifying survivors. While others do and receive lots more benefit then they ever paid into the system. It's like insurance - say you pay a 1K premium for the year and if nothing happens you don't get that $ back but if there is a hail storm, you get 5K to fix the hail damage. The insurance company uses the $ paid by others to offset the cost of your claim. Kinda the same basic theory for how SSA is set up. It's all based on probabilities.

I have two friends who's husband's died - both are 2nd wives - one 68 and gets 100% of his SS retirement, the other 52 only gets 70%. For one, the first wife is also getting his SS too as #1 never remarried and they were married 15 years so qualifies. My mom gets a SS retirement benefit based on my dad's work - my mom is mid 90's in a NH and has been collecting on my dad's SS for like 30 years. For my mom, SSA has likely paid out lots more than my dad ever paid into it as he retired and died in the 1970's but most people don't qualify for 30 years! My uncle never married & worked 40 yrs but left no qualifying survivor to get his SS. We joke that he kinda balanced what my mom has been getting all these years.

The government ( S. S. ) never asks for a Marriage Certificate, only a birth certificate and a death certificate. Take it from there.

My father just passed away earlier this month and was on SS disabilty retirement at the age of 62 and he died at the age 64. My father has been married three times but none has lasted more then five years. He worked in the local plants for his whole 40 plus years and paid into social security. Is their anyone other then the federal government intitled to the amount in which he paid in? Since he was never married more then ten years and did not have any children disabled?

Funeral Homes are not the business of distribution of Social Security funds. Pay the funeral home directly , and keep the money that the S. S. sends to the surviving spouse separate.

Do not be afraid to shop around I used a FH our families had used for years and spent thousands more than I should have and they did none of the leg work other FH's normally do for the spouse.

The funeral home usually will have already drawn up (and totally legal for your state) documents that allow for the deceased assets - whether it's the SS death benefit or insurance policy - to be transferred from the estate to the funeral home in order to pay for the costs of the funeral &/or burial. The qualifying survivor signs off for the checks from SSA or insurance co in their name to be sent to the funeral home address. Then once it comes in to the FH you either go in to sign the back or do another document allowing that. I think this depends on the state as to how it get's done.

If there wasn't a preneed done, then the family has to figure out how to pay the often hefty costs of a funeral/burial, transferring the $ from insurance or SS death benefit can come in handy as a way to do this. Cost wise this is probably the most expensive way as the family is under duress in making choices or infighting on who pays for what. Even with a preneed done, there will still be some costs. For some, signing over SSA $255 is just an easy way to deal with last minute costs.

Tammy - contact the FH who did the preneed to see what they can set up.

I do not know the answer to that-the funeral home should be able to give you the answer-if you call social security you may not get the correct answer but funeral homes should know the rules.

Is it possible to have my death benefit from social security left to my funeral home to pay for opening and closing of my grave...My preneed is paid in full and my headstone is set and I DONT want the $$ to go to any of my underserving children

Thank you all for your help and insight.

Right on, Austin. Also, Elaine is correct....the pay out is $255.00 now for a qualifying spousal survivor.

Check the social security website - at the top type in "lump sum death benefit". It will tell you who qualifies to receive this death benefit and specifically states that the $255 check can NOT be paid to a funeral home or a person's estate. The Social Security Administration will ONLY pay to a QUALIFYING survivor - a funeral home is not a survivor nor is an estate.

Not to worry as soon as they know of the death they will stop payment or take back payment if it is direct deposit