Social Security Form SSA-1724 for representative payee - listing incarcerated family members?

Yes, you absolutely need to list ALL of your mother's children on the SSA-1724 form, including your incarcerated brother. The Social Security Administration requires complete information for their records when determining representative payee status. For his address, you should use his current location (the jail address) with a note that he's being transferred. You can update SSA later when you know his prison address. Remember that SSA often does background checks on family members when evaluating rep payee applications.

when i did the rep payee thing for my aunt they made me list ALL her kids even the estranged ones i had no contact info for. just put down what u know. they mostly care that ur being honest about whos out there. the jail address is fine for now

You HAVE TO list him!!! If you don't and they find out (WHICH THEY WILL), they could DENY your application to be the rep payee and possibly even accuse you of fraud!!! The SSA has ways of checking family relationships through their systems. Just use his current jail address and update them later. Don't risk your mom's benefits by leaving ANYONE off that form!!!

To directly answer your question - yes, you must list all children regardless of their circumstances. For the address, use his current incarceration facility. When he's transferred, you can update SSA with his new location. The form is specifically looking for all potential interested parties in your mother's care. As a side note, incarcerated individuals generally can't receive Social Security benefits except in specific circumstances, but they still need to be listed as relatives on the rep payee forms. The SSA wants a complete picture of the family structure to ensure the most appropriate person is serving as representative payee.

I had this exact situation last year with my father and my incarcerated sister. I called for days trying to get through to SSA for clarification and kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to an SSA rep in about 15 minutes. They confirmed I needed to list all siblings regardless of incarceration status and just use their current address. You can see how the service works in this video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - saved me days of frustration.

my cousin became rep payee for their mom last summer and they forgot to list a step-sibling that nobody had talked to in years. social security found out somehow and made them start the whole application over! took like 3 extra months to get approved. don't make that mistake!

I think you're overthinking this. Just list him with the jail address and move on. The form is mainly to show SSA who might contest your appointment as rep payee. Your brother obviously can't serve as rep payee from jail so it's just a formality. Not worth stressing over!

Update: I submitted the form with my brother listed and his current jail address, with a note that he's being transferred soon. The SSA rep I finally spoke with (thanks for the Claimyr suggestion!) said that was exactly the right approach. She also said I should contact them once he's transferred to update his address in their system. Thanks everyone for your help!

Great to see this worked out for you! Just wanted to add for anyone else in a similar situation - when dealing with incarcerated family members on SSA forms, it's also helpful to keep a record of the facility's booking number or inmate ID if you have it. This can make it easier for SSA to verify the information if they need to. Also, most correctional facilities have specific procedures for official mail, so when you do need to update SSA with the new prison address later, make sure you get the complete mailing format from the facility (they often require specific formatting with inmate numbers, housing units, etc.).