Social Security payment received after mother's death - do I return July's benefit?

I'm sorry for your loss. You're correct about how this works. Social Security benefits are paid in arrears - meaning the payment received in August was actually for July. Since your mother was alive for all of July, that payment is correctly paid and belongs to her estate. However, since she passed away in August, she is not entitled to an August benefit (which would have been paid in September). If the bank returned the July payment (that arrived in August), you should contact SSA immediately to have it reissued to the estate. Only the August payment (if one was received) should be returned.

When my father died last year, we had a similar situation. Here's what I learned: SS payments are for the PREVIOUS month. So payment received in August = July benefit. If your mother lived the entire month of July, her estate is entitled to keep that payment. The August benefit that came in late August should definitely be returned as she didn't live the entire month of August. The bank should only return the payment that was for August, not July. If they mistakenly return both, contact SSA right away to get the July payment reissued to the estate. You'll need the death certificate and your executor documents.

my grandmother died in 2023 and we had this exact problem. the july payment is fine becuz she was alive all of july. but any payment for august needs to go back. social security pays a month behind so august payment is really for july. make sure your bank understands this!

Trying to get through to Social Security on the phone to sort this out will be IMPOSSIBLE. I spent 4 days calling about a similar issue when my husband died and kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. FINALLY I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual person at SSA in about 20 minutes instead of endless waiting. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it saved me so much frustration. They connect you with SSA so you can verify exactly what the bank should be returning.

I work at a financial institution and deal with this frequently. Here's the official rule: 1. Social Security benefits are paid in the month FOLLOWING the month for which they are due. So the payment received in August was for July. 2. A recipient must live the ENTIRE MONTH to be eligible for that month's payment. 3. Since your mother lived all of July, the payment received in August (for July) is correctly paid and belongs to her estate. 4. Since she did not live through all of August, any payment received for August must be returned. If the bank returned the wrong payment, you need to contact SSA with proof of death date and your executor documents to rectify the situation. Hope this helps!

When my mom passed we had SO MUCH CONFUSION with the bank!! They were gonna send EVERYTHING back to Social Security!!! I had to fight with them to keep the right payment! Make sure you talk to a MANAGER at the bank who understands how SS works!!

had this happen last year banks dont know SS rules half the time lol they almost sent back june and july payments when my uncle died in august!!! crazy stuff