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It's a very confusing form does anybody have any input they can give me or tell me how to do the form and what the interview is like my husband has brain injury diagnosis dementia any help would be appreciated. TIA

You private messaged me but I am answering you here.
You did not mention in this post that your husband has a Social Security debit card that his SS payment is downloaded to. This is a different ballgame then direct deposit to a shared bank account.

I think you should make an appointment at a Social Security office near you. Ask ahead what paperwork you need to bring. May need a doctors letter saying your husband can no longer make informed decisions because of cognitive impairment. I think you will do better face to face with a caseworker then trying to get info from a forum.

For my nephew a debit card is good for him because he is homebound. But for a married couple in your situation, not so much. With my husband and I our SS payments go to a shared bank account. As such, if he had Dementia, I would still have access.

Again, Social Security does not except Power of Attorney. So having one does not mean you can get payee status.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Why do you need to become payee? My husband and I share an account. I could still pay the bills if he was incapable. As POA I paid my Moms bills, because I was on her acct but I could have as POA. Never became her payee.

Unless you have separate accts and have no access to his, not sure why you need to become payee. And if you don't have access, not sure if payee will solve that problem. Will it allow you to change his direct deposit to your acct?
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Ordinarily this must be done in person at a SS office, and that is what I would do.
You must understand first that you will require FULL DOCUMENTATION from doctors of diagnosis.

When I addressed this issue as regards my brother I not only was waiting in long lines at SS but I had then to wait for a SPECIALIST in this procedure to come to the office I was in from another branch. And in the end the Rep Payee was not neither needed nor wise in my brother's case.

In the beginning of being POA for someone with dementia everything is muddy confusion.
What is required by banks is different from what SS wants and both are different than what IRS wants and all three are different from what some other entity wants.

Wishing you good luck. Make an appointment. Be certain that you have with you your POA, any other documents, and at least two letters --one from his doctor and one from a neuro-psyc MD saying that at present his dementia is too severe for your husband to manage his funds. Your POA won't "work" at SS but it proves you have been entrusted by hubby to manage for him when he is unable. It is the letters from doctors that will be most crucial. Go online, even to A.I. and research "being Social Security Representative Payee". You will access information both on SS site and elsewhere, step by step.

Meanwhile it is best that you don't mess with any account this SS goes into, and that you do banking work with your POA for husband so that you are the person managing writing of expenses out of account. Keep thorough records of everything financial, and thorough files. If the are uncertain what to do spend that expense of an hour of time with an Elder Law Attorney to learn the options for you both.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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The IRS recommends that you do this in person. Do you have a phone or in-person meeting scheduled? Since you are applying for your husband, they will need a copy of your marriage certificate. You can mail it but that's risky because you are at their mercy of getting it back. That's an advantage of an in-person interview, you can show them the certificate and they will make a copy and give it right back to you.

I agree that the form online is pretty incomprehensible but the interviewers do this all the time so they know what to ask. It should be pretty straightforward if you are married. The main problem is the wait for a phone or in-person appointment. If you can get a phone interview sooner than an in-person, take that, answer the questions, and then they will give you a time to go in-person with the marriage certificate, if you'd rather not mail it. (Sorry if that all sounds garbled, maybe someone who has done this recently can clarify.)
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Reply to MG8522
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