Social Security check received same month as death - does family need to return it?
My mother-in-law just passed away last week, about 10 days after her October Social Security retirement payment was deposited. We're trying to handle all the arrangements and notifications, and someone mentioned we might have to return her last SS payment since she died in the same month she received it. Is this true? The funeral costs are already straining our finances, and I'm worried about having to come up with that money if we've already used it for her final expenses. Does anyone know the actual rule about this? Some family members are saying different things and I'm confused.
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Freya Andersen
Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately yes, you do need to return the payment. SS benefits are paid for the PREVIOUS month, not the current one. So that October payment was actually for September. But since she was alive for all of September, that payment was rightfully hers and does NOT need to be returned. It's only if someone dies and gets a payment for the month they died in that it needs to go back.
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Ravi Patel
•Wait, I'm confused. So the October payment she received was actually for September? And that means we DON'T have to return it since she was alive all of September?
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Omar Zaki
The previous commenter is partially correct but stated it confusingly. Social Security benefits are paid in arrears - meaning the payment received in October is for September benefits. Since your mother-in-law was alive for all of September, that payment is correctly paid and does NOT need to be returned. You would only return a payment if it was for the month of death or later months. Be sure to notify SSA of her passing as soon as possible to prevent any November payments from being issued.
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Ravi Patel
•Thank you so much for clarifying! That's a huge relief. We'll definitely notify SSA right away.
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CosmicCrusader
•This is correct information. Just to add a bit more detail: Social Security benefits are paid in the month following the month for which they are due. So the October deposit was for September benefits, which your mother-in-law was entitled to since she was alive for all of September. No one is entitled to benefits for the month they die unless they die on the last day of the month. So there should be no payment issued for October benefits (which would come in November).
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Chloe Robinson
when my husband died 2 years ago we had the same question!!!! the funeral director told us wrong information and it caused SO MUCH STRESS. wish the SSA would make this clearer. the payment she got in octover was FOR SEPTEMBER so you keep it. but you won't get any payment for october because she wasnt alive all of october. hope that helps and sorry about your mother.
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Ravi Patel
•Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry you had to deal with stress on top of your loss. It does seem like this could be explained more clearly by SSA.
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Diego Flores
If ur trying to get through to the SSA to report her death, use Claimyr.com - saved me hours of waiting when my dad passed. They'll connect you directly to an SSA agent so you can report the death and ask any questions about the benefits. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. I was on with an agent in like 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours or getting disconnected. Really helpful during an already stressful time.
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Ravi Patel
•Thanks for the tip. We've been dreading making that call because of all the wait times we've heard about. I'll check out that service.
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Anastasia Kozlov
•I used this too when dealing with my mom's benefits. Works exactly as advertised. Much better than waiting on hold for 3+ hours.
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Sean Flanagan
MAKE SURE you do NOT spend the $255 death benefit if thats what youre talking about!!! That has completely different rules and the funeral home usually gets that directly I think??
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Omar Zaki
•The original poster is asking about the regular monthly retirement benefit, not the one-time $255 death benefit. These are completely different payments with different rules. The $255 death benefit is paid to a surviving spouse or eligible child, and yes, sometimes funeral homes will ask about applying that toward funeral costs, but it's not automatically sent to funeral homes.
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Sean Flanagan
•oh ok got confused thx for explaining
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CosmicCrusader
To summarize what others have correctly stated: The payment received in October was for September benefits. Since your mother-in-law was alive throughout September, that payment is correctly paid and does not need to be returned. You should notify SSA of her passing as soon as possible to prevent any payments for October (which would be paid in November) from being issued. If a payment for October is issued, that would need to be returned since she wasn't alive for the entire month of October. Also, be aware that a surviving spouse or dependent child may be eligible for the one-time death benefit of $255, which is separate from the monthly benefits.
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Ravi Patel
•Thank you for this clear summary. We'll be contacting SSA tomorrow to notify them and ask about the death benefit too.
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Anastasia Kozlov
When my aunt died the bank froze her account and it was a mess trying to sort out which funds were supposed to stay and which had to go back. If your mom had direct deposit you might want to check with her bank too
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Ravi Patel
•That's a really good point I hadn't considered. I'll call her bank tomorrow. Thank you!
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