My daughter in-law's mom was approved to start receiving disability two months prior to her death from cancer. Should funds have been paid out to her estate?

Ritz, could you please update us when DIL find out the answer.

I am answering Burnts question to me here.

The header says that the woman was approved 2 months before her death. I am surprised she did not get her retro payment shortly afterwards. She is entitled payment as of the date of that letter. Now her on going payments will be given just like any SS payment as I described. Her estate is entitled to anything before her death she would have received as a monthly payment.

Now, if she was not approved till after death...she still maybe entitled to the retro payment. Retro payments are determined from the date of application. Thats why I said to call the lawyer who did her case. He can find up what the hold up is.

Not saying I am right but I have been involved with the application for SSD for my disabled nephew. I did the first application and then used a lawyer when nephew was turned down and was involved with the lawyer. So to me its logic that her estate should receive what was approved for her before her death. I would not call SS, I would call the lawyer who did the work. He may tell the DIL that the woman's death stopped the payment but won't know if she does not call him.

If you are referring to Social Security disability, your DIL should call the Social Security Administration office with this question. They will gladly answer her question.

If there was money owed at time of death SS will send out a notification to her last known address.

I got one for my mom and it wants a complete list of ALL her children, grandchildren, great and great great grandchildren ,any surviving parents, siblings, cousins and on and on.

I am assuming that they want the list of kin to divide the SS to all according to state law.

It took 5 months for SS to send the notice.

If you are talking about Social Security Disability, then in my opinion her estate is entitled to the retro payment if not received. I would hope a SS lawyer helped her get her disability. If so, DIL needs to call him to see if out of that retro money he was paid for his services. If so, Mom should have received the balance. So, DIL needs to make that call and the lawyer should find out, even if he did receive his %, why his client did not receive hers. (Last I heard, lawyers are only entitled to 25% or 35% of the retro money and there is a cap for that)

When you apply for SSD, the date you apply is the date for the retro money. If it takes a year to get excepted, SS goes back to date of application and pays one lump sum from that date up to the first monthly payment sent. Mom was alive those months and should get payment. She maybe able to get any monthly payments due her too. With SS, just like a job, you are paid a month later. So the check received in July is June's check. If Mom died in June and received a check in July, SS will take back that July check back because its June payment. Now if Mom dies in July, she gets that check but she is not entitled to the check she receives in August.

I think what may have happened is when Mom passed her SS acct was closed meaning any pending payments did not go thru. That does not mean her estate is not due those payments. It just may be a matter of her lawyer calling to see what happen to the payment.
Please update us on what u find. We learn from others.

No. She is not entitled to the disability money that her mother was approved for. That is ridiculous.

Disability benefits are not an inheritance. A person can pay into Social Security for decades and if they die without having married and they don't have minor children, all the money paid in goes into the general fund and no one collects on it.

Your friend is not entitled to her dead mother's disability benefits.

Generally speaking such checks are made out to the person, if the person is no longer alive payments stop. Their estate is not owed anything.

100% a lawyer question though.

Probably not, sadly. There is a Google Search you can do that better explains .

I don't think so, but you should contact an attorney for this legal question.

The money is disability pay to an injured person. And if that person is gone there is no one to pay it to. They won't pay an estate, which isn't an injured party in need of help.

But again, this is conjecture on my part; ask an attorney. If Igloo is out and about on the Forum today she may know, as she is quite savvy about these issues.
Wish you the best.