Can minor beneficiaries see their Social Security benefits in their own SSA account or parent's account?

As a representative payee, their benefits won't show up in your personal MySocialSecurity account. The Social Security Administration maintains separate records for beneficiaries and their representative payees. Minor children don't have their own MySocialSecurity accounts. Instead, you should be receiving annual Representative Payee Reports (Form SSA-623) where you account for how their benefits were used throughout the year. To check on their payment status and amounts, you have three options: 1. Call the national SSA number (though wait times can be extremely long) 2. Check the mailed statements that should come annually 3. Visit your local field office (with an appointment as you mentioned) The SSA really needs to improve this system since representative payees have no online visibility into the benefits they're managing.

i went thru this with my nephew when my sister died. its super confusing! the system 4 kids is totally separate fr ur own benefits. they dont get their own accts online but u also cant see their stuff in ur own acct either. makes NO sense!!! the way i managed was just keeping track of bank deposits. social security is still living in the stone age with their technology lol

I had this exact issue with my grandchildren after their mother passed. Unfortunately, minors do not have their own MySocialSecurity accounts, and as the representative payee, you won't see their benefits in your personal account either. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of the SSA system that hasn't been modernized. What I did was set up a dedicated spreadsheet where I track all incoming payments and how they're spent. This serves two purposes: 1) I can easily fill out the annual Representative Payee Report, and 2) I have documentation if there's ever a question about missing payments or how funds were used. I've found the direct deposit notifications from my bank are the most reliable way to track when payments arrive.

I use Claimyr when I need to speak with someone at Social Security about my kids' benefits. I was in the same situation - couldn't check their benefits online and couldn't get through on the phone for weeks. Claimyr connected me to an SSA agent within 30 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. Their video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU shows how it works. Saved me from having to take time off work for an in-person appointment just to check on a payment issue.

DONT TRUST THE PAPER STATEMENTS!!!! I had MAJOR issues with my grandson's benefits after my daughter died. The statements would show one amount but different money was deposited!!! When I finally got through to SSA after WEEKS of trying, they said there was an "adjustment" that wasn't reflected on the statement. YOU HAVE TO WATCH YOUR BANK ACCOUNT LIKE A HAWK because SSA makes mistakes ALL THE TIME and they won't fix it unless you catch it!!! The whole system is BROKEN especially for kids benefits!!!

You can request something called a "Representative Payee Accounting Form" from your local SSA office. It won't be online, but it will give you all the payment details for your children. I'm a rep payee for my disabled brother (not a minor but similar situation) and SSA's online capabilities are severely lacking for anyone managing benefits for someone else. The MySocialSecurity accounts are only for personal benefits. It's one of my biggest frustrations with the system.

One tip that might help - make sure you're using separate dedicated bank accounts for each child's benefits. The SSA regulations actually require this, and it makes tracking much easier. Each child should have their own account where only their SS benefits are deposited (your name will be on it as the representative payee). This not only helps with recordkeeping but also protects you during the annual accounting review. The format should be "[Your Name], representative payee for [Child's Name]."

anyone else notice benefits for kids are always like a few days later than adult benefits?? my daughters always hit the bank like 3-5 days after mine do even tho supposedly they all pay on same schedule?? super weird

As others have said, you won't see your children's benefits in your MySocialSecurity account. This is actually a privacy measure. Even though you're the representative payee, the benefits legally belong to your children, so SSA maintains separate records. The system could certainly be improved to provide online access for representative payees while maintaining appropriate privacy protections, but the current technology doesn't support this. I recommend calling your local office (not the main number) first thing when they open. You'll have better luck getting through than calling the national 800 number.

If possible, I would recommend scheduling that appointment, even if it's 7 weeks out. Face-to-face interactions with SSA are almost always more productive than phone calls. When you go, ask them to print out a benefit verification letter for each child and a payment history. These documents will show exactly what they're entitled to and when payments were issued. You might also want to ask them about any potential adjustments to their benefits coming up. Survivor benefits can sometimes change based on various factors, and it's better to know in advance.