Do I need to report inheritance to Social Security? Will it affect my SS benefits?
I just found out my aunt passed away and left me about $85,000 in her will. I'm currently receiving Social Security retirement benefits (I'm 68) and I'm worried about whether this inheritance will affect my monthly payments. Do I need to report this inheritance to Social Security? Will this money count as income? I don't want to get in trouble for not reporting it, but I also don't want my benefits reduced if I don't have to. Anyone dealt with this before? Thanks for any advice.
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Jasmine Hancock
Good news - for regular Social Security retirement benefits, inheritance is NOT counted as income and doesn't need to be reported to SSA. Inheritance is considered an unearned, one-time resource transfer. This won't affect your retirement benefits at all. However, if you were receiving SSI (Supplemental Security Income) instead of regular retirement benefits, it would absolutely matter since SSI is needs-based. For SSI recipients, that inheritance would count toward your resource limit of $2,000 for individuals. Since you're 68 and receiving retirement benefits, you're fine - no need to report it.
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James Maki
•That's such a relief to hear! I wasn't sure about the difference between regular SS retirement and SSI. So I don't need to file any special forms or notify them at all? This is my first time dealing with an inheritance and I just wanted to make sure I do everything correctly.
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Cole Roush
i inherited $45k from my dad in 2023 an it didnt change my ss checks. didnt tell em and nothin happened
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Scarlett Forster
•But what if the SSA finds out later? Couldn't you get in trouble for not reporting it? I'm always nervous about these things. My cousin got an overpayment notice last year and it was a NIGHTMARE trying to deal with the office!
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Arnav Bengali
Let me clarify something important here that others have touched on: there's a big difference between Social Security Retirement (OASDI - Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and SSI (Supplemental Security Income). For OASDI (regular retirement): Inheritance has ZERO impact. It's not income for Social Security purposes. No need to report it. For SSI: Inheritance would absolutely need to be reported because it counts toward your resource limit ($2,000 for individuals/$3,000 for couples). Since you mentioned you're 68 and receiving retirement benefits, I assume you're on regular Social Security, not SSI. Just be aware that if you're receiving BOTH programs, the inheritance would affect the SSI portion. Also know that inheritance might affect taxation of your benefits if it significantly changes your overall income situation through investment returns, but that's a separate issue from reporting to SSA.
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Sayid Hassan
•This is actually why my mother-in-law put her inheritance in one of those special needs trusts. She was on SSI and didn't want to lose her medicaid. But OP should be fine if they're just on regular retirement benefits.
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Rachel Tao
CAREFUL! Everyone saying not to report it doesn't understand that the IRS and SSA DO share information!!! If your inheritance gets reported on any tax forms, the SSA will eventually find out. Better safe than sorry - I'd report it even if it doesn't affect benefits! The SSA offices are IMPOSSIBLE to deal with once they think you've hidden something. Trust me, I've been through this nightmare!!!
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Arnav Bengali
•This is incorrect. While the IRS and SSA do share information, an inheritance is not considered income for Social Security retirement benefit purposes, period. There is no obligation to report it to SSA if you receive retirement benefits. The SSA doesn't monitor or care about inheritance for retirement beneficiaries. Now if you invest that money and earn interest/dividends, those investment earnings might affect the taxation of your Social Security benefits, but that's handled through your tax return, not by reporting to SSA directly.
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Derek Olson
Does anyone know how to actually GET THROUGH to SSA to ask these questions? I've been trying to call my local office for THREE WEEKS with questions about my widow benefits. Either busy signal or on hold for 2+ hours then disconnected. They're still not fully open for walk-ins. So frustrating!
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Danielle Mays
•I had the same problem trying to ask about survivor benefits last month. Spent hours trying to get through. Finally used a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real person in about 20 minutes. Just go to claimyr.com - they call SSA and navigate the hold system, then call you when they have an agent on the line. Saved me hours of frustration. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU
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James Maki
Thank you all for the helpful information! I feel much better knowing I don't need to report this inheritance to Social Security. I was worried it might trigger a review or something. I'll be careful about how I invest it though, since it sounds like the earnings from investments could potentially affect the taxation of my benefits. Thanks again for clearing this up!
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Arnav Bengali
•Good plan. Just to give you peace of mind: if you invest the money, the only potential impact would be on how much of your Social Security is taxable. Currently, if your combined income (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of your Social Security benefits) exceeds $25,000 for individuals or $32,000 for married couples filing jointly, up to 85% of your benefits may be taxable. The investment earnings could push you into a higher taxation bracket for your benefits, but it won't reduce your actual Social Security payment amount.
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Sayid Hassan
My uncle got an inheritance last year and he said the funeral home actually reported it to social security and his checks stopped coming for 2 months while they sorted it out. He was on regular retirement too. Maybe it depends on the state?
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Jasmine Hancock
•The funeral home wouldn't have reported an inheritance to Social Security. What likely happened was they reported his death to Social Security (which is standard procedure), and there was a mix-up with his identity. Social Security sometimes mistakenly records the wrong person as deceased. It's called "death master file errors" and it happens more often than you'd think, especially with similar names. That would explain why his payments stopped and had to be reinstated. This has nothing to do with inheritance reporting.
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Cole Roush
dont 4get about probate makin it public too. my dads will went thru probate an took 9 months to get the $$$
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James Maki
•That's good to know. My aunt's estate is going through probate now. The lawyer said it could take 6-8 months. I didn't realize it would be public information though.
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