What do I do to return my passed mother's pension checks to US government?

@freqflyer
That would be a sweet surprise, even in the face of the tragedy. Cool!

Misguided, when you talk to Human Resources, ask if the company had a life insurance on your Mom or Dad.

I know I was surprised when I had called to cancel my Dad's pension, and HR told me they had a life insurance policy and would mail me out a check to the Estate of ________.

If it is an annuity check, state or local government pension, or company pension, there MAY have been a minimum distribution period guarantee - like 10 years. If she passed in less than 10 years, the beneficiary would be entitled to payments until the 10 years is over. My mom took the option for 10 years minimum payouts (and lived longer). When I received her annuity balance, I had option for minimum payout guarantee as well - I chose 10 years too. I also have my own pension, with a supplemental of which I chose to take over 7 years.

This should be checked out with the payor of the annuity (insurance company or financial institution) or pension (employer).

Check the pension with the Pension Board of the Department where she was employed. She may have designated you as a beneficiary.
If there is an error and the Pension Board was not properly notified you will have to return the money.

There is a difference between SS and "pension". I am surprised if SS is still going into the joint account. When my father passed, they took that money right away, even though he only died on Feb 4th, they took it back. We didn't have to do anything. If it is truly pension money, like others said, call human resources of the place the pension is coming from. That money will need to be refunded.

You really should have notified the provider of the pension at the time of her death and provided them with a death certificate. You need to do so now and return her pensions since her death per their instructions as to how.

well S.S will want every penny back & they will need to have a copy of the death certificate ..see the s.s will let you keep the 1st months check if they passed for 1 week after they got the check like if they passed on the 8 th & got the check on the 1st or 2nd .. so if you do not return the money they will be very strict !!! they might even put you in jail if they do not get the money back !!! you should have report it right away !! you have to call them i am sure they would understand a week of waiting but i do not know what they will do for months !! have you ever dealt with the I.R.S ??
I HAVE & another co worker had too .well this was in the late eighties .he refused to pay his self employment pay to the i.r.s & he called them up & they told him if he did not pay they will double what he had to pay back
& they did ..so you better stop & get things straight before it gets way to big for you to handle ..but i do not know about the pension though !!!! good luck & make sure the money is in that account they will get it from there !! s.s that is

Misguided, if your mother is getting "pension checks" either from a place where she had worked or where your Dad had worked, you need to call Human Resources and tell them that Mom had passed. Don't be surprised if the company will request the the past few months of checks to be returned.

Now, for Social Security, the funeral home usually calls Social Security and tells them of a person's passing along with their Social Security number. If a check had been sent out SS usually will pull the money back out of a checking account.

Are you referring to her Social Security Checks? If so, tell the bank that your mom died and when. You can also call social security and tell them. Look on line for their number. They will take the money back out of your account. I'm sorry for the loss of your mom.