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

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.

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.

My daughter died on the 8th, her SS was direct deposited on the 11th, but then was immediately withdrawn.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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Our s/s checks normally arrive at the bank (direct deposit) on the third 3rd Wed of the month. My wife died on Jan 22, a Thursday and I immediately called s/s office and had Feb check stopped. Now s/s plans to hold almost 1/2 of my check for April !
No mention of why in the letter announcing that just a proclomation that they bwere keeping my money, equal to her check !!!
Anyone recognize this socialist policy??

My moms check comes on the 3, I'm her POA I went ahead and paid all her bills which I live with her then she died today the 5 th will S.S. make me pay it all back?

My moms check comes on the 3, I'm her POA I went ahead and paid all her bills which I live with her then she died today the 5 th will S.S. make me pay it all back?

My moms check comes on the 3, I'm her POA I went ahead and paid all her bills which I live with her then she died today the 5 th will S.S. make me pay it all back?

Yes. As I've posted before on this site.......You are considered dead the entire month in which you die. The S.S. will sieze the amount they entered on her bank account after they verify her death. If her check appeared in her account on the third of the month, and she died on the fifth, they will retrieve that amount later.

No, that's incorrect. The check on the 3rd was payment for last month, and since death occurred on the 5th, the money will not need to returned. Social Security does not pay us in advance of the month, they pay at the end of the month. Remember that "end of month" is the date the pay period ends, not necessarily the last calendar day of the month. Some people receive their checks during the week of the month in which the day of month of their birthday falls, For example, if your birthday was on the 20th, your check would be issued around the 20th of each month, So many people wrongly believe they are being paid in advance by SS, when it reality, they are being paid in arrears, like most employers pay their employees -- after the work is done, not before.

The next check that ia issued, for this month -- the month in which death occured -- would need to be returned, if the notice of death isn't processed by Social Security before the next paycheck cycle spits the check out.

I tried notifying the SS administration on the net that my Mom passed away. couldn't find a way to do it. So I called their 800 number. Waited almost a half hour and no one answered. So I quit trying. How can I let them know Mom's gone?

I'm 74, wife is 68. She receives first husbands death benefit + ss benefit, WilI I get any of her benefits if she dies?

My mom died on February 19th. The funeral home sent notice to the SS that she was deceased along with the date. I signed the paperwork at the funeral home acknowledging this. My name was on my mothers checking and savings acct. It took 6 months before SS contacted the bank to stop the auto deposits of monthly funds and take back all the monies paid to my mother after she passed as well as the monies deposited in February. The funds that were deposited the 3rd of January was the last amt. that she was able to keep.

The ex husband I was married to for 12 years died unknown to me on May 27, I remarried June 3. Does anyone know if I can receive ex husbands benefits?

I also have an understanding that Social Security stops when someone dies and that the check must be returned. I've also heard that if it's not returned to social Security and someone else uses it, they can get in serious trouble when Social Security catches up to them and finds out about it

When you remarry you lose the ability to claim ex-husband benefits per SSA. As divorced and not remarried after more than 10 years marriage you could file. this is a factor in many seniors deciding not to remarry.

Guest, However, if you are again divorced, widowed cannot you go to SSA and claim income based upon first husband's calculated income instead of your own?

And, can you choose which spouse to have income calculated upon, as long as you were married the qualifying years ?

And then, if one is the remarrying type, collecting a social security benefit calculated upon a previous spouse, do you still collect based upon that? Because reporting to SS if one remarries is required by law, I thought. Wouldn't that be some kind of fraud, how many husbands, under how many names can one wife collect????? I guess to unravel this, one wife could collect on her own SS calculated earnings. But on an ex-spouse after she remarries? I'm guessing no.

Sendme2, I read Selzer question as "can I collect on ex after I remarry". If Selzer gets divorced the SS on ex can come into play again. Since you have to be married 10 years to have an ex calculated into income it's probably less likely to have multiples unless you started early;) given what I've read here and other forums, who knows?

Ah the strategies of being a widow......my understanding is that if you were married more than 1 time & more than 10 years on each, then divorced, when you finally decide to take SS you can choose the SS of the more high income spouse to be your benefit or your own SS. Usually is the later spouse as wages paid less in 1960's - 1980's, so a bigger SS base to pay out on later spouse wages. SS strategy is pretty complex if you can try to go to SSA info seminars or AARP ones before 62 & read up on just what taking early SS (@62) can mean.

Hey Igloo! Biggest thing to remember is that you cannot "stack" social security benefits. The amount may adjust but it's still one person one payment. You don't get Fred and Jim and Albert and your own as ex or widow. Per SSA to my mom who was a serial optimist.

GSA - yeah! Let's hope that middle spouse was Jim had a very high paying job for her to lasso!

Hey, igloo. That's what was funny. J was the deadbeat that couldn't hold job and A was the one "finding his orientation" (yark!). F was my dad who hated her post divorce and probably could have generated electricity by spinning in his grave that she got rated on his doctor's version.