Social Security payment deposited after death - do we return September benefit?

I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, Social Security benefits are not payable for the month of death, regardless of what day in the month the person died. So if he passed on September 14th, the September payment that was deposited will need to be returned to SSA. When SSA is notified of the death (either by the funeral home or directly), they will usually contact the bank directly to recover the funds. You might want to make sure that money stays in the account until SSA retrieves it.

when my husband died in 2018 the check that month went back automatically, the bank just took it back once social security notified them. don't spend it!!

The rule is that you must be alive for the entire month to receive the benefit for that month. Since your father-in-law passed on the 14th, he wasn't alive for the full month of September, so that payment will need to be returned. SSA will eventually find out about the death and reclaim the money, often directly from the bank account. If the account is closed before they can do this, they'll send an overpayment notice to the estate. You should also be aware that there is a one-time death benefit of $255 that can be paid to a surviving spouse or dependent child. If applicable in your situation, someone would need to apply for that benefit.

Yes, this is true for everyone receiving Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability benefits. The person must be alive for the entire month to be entitled to the payment for that month. Since your aunt passed on the 29th, the payment for that month would need to be returned to SSA. I would recommend checking with whoever handled her finances to make sure this was properly addressed.

I need to correct my previous statement - the situation is more nuanced. Social Security benefits are paid in the month following the month for which they are due. So the payment received in September is actually for August, and since he was alive for all of August, that payment is legitimate. You're right that he would not be entitled to a payment for September (which would normally arrive in October). However, if the payment received in September was specifically labeled as being FOR September (not August), then it would need to be returned. It's best to check the payment details to confirm exactly which month the payment was for.

When my mom died, I spent HOURS trying to get clear answers from SSA about this exact issue!! The way it works is: SS benefits are paid in arrears - meaning the payment you receive in a given month is for the PREVIOUS month. So the payment deposited at the end of September was actually for AUGUST. Since your father-in-law was alive for all of August, that payment is correctly his and you DO NOT need to return it. The October payment (for September) is the one he wouldn't be entitled to since he didn't live through the entire month of September. But since he passed away mid-September, SSA should be notified of the death and that payment won't be issued in the first place. I remember how stressful this was when dealing with my mom's estate - hang in there!

I went through this nightmare last year with my uncle. Spent weeks trying to reach someone at Social Security to get a straight answer. I kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA representative in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed exactly what others have said here - the payment received in September was actually for August, so that payment was correctly his since he was alive all of August. You don't need to return it. No further payments should be issued after the death is reported. The funeral home usually reports the death, but it doesn't hurt to contact SSA directly to confirm they received the death notification.

my grandpa got a payment after he died and the bank took it back automatically!!!! we didn't have to do anything. But that was like 2 yrs ago maybe they do it differnt now

be careful what you do with that $$ because my sister inlaw spent her husbands last check and then 6 MONTHS LATER social security demanded it back and she didnt have it any more!!!

One more thing to be aware of - if your father-in-law had a surviving spouse, they might be eligible for survivor benefits. The surviving spouse should contact SSA to determine if their own benefit would increase by switching to survivor benefits. This is often overlooked but can sometimes result in a higher monthly payment, especially if your father-in-law's benefit was larger than his spouse's current benefit.