Social Security payment received day before mother died - do we return it?

Sorry for your loss. The payment on Jan 30 was for January, so you get to keep it because she was alive for the month. Only if she died in December would you need to return the January payment. SS benefits are paid in arrears (for the previous month).

First, my condolences on the loss of your mother. To clarify what happens with Social Security payments in this situation: Social Security benefits are paid in the month following the month for which they are due. This means the payment received on January 30th was actually for December 2024. Since your mother was alive for the entire month of January, that payment is correctly paid and does not need to be returned. However, no payment should be issued for February (which would normally arrive in March). You should still report her death to Social Security as soon as possible at 1-800-772-1213 or at your local office. They'll stop future payments, but the January 30th payment can remain in her account.

My father passed away last year and we went through this EXACT situation!!! We were so confused about what to do with that last payment. We called the SSA and they explained to us that Social Security benefits are paid one month behind - so January's deposit was actually for December. Since she lived the entire month of January, that payment was rightfully hers (and now belongs to her estate). DEFINITELY call and report her death ASAP though!!! If any payments come through after that January payment, those would need to be returned. And I'm very sorry about your mom.

I want to provide some accurate information here. Social Security retirement benefits are paid in arrears - meaning the payment received on January 30, 2025 was for January 2025, not December 2024 as some have stated. The benefit payment is for the month in which it is received. Since your mother was alive through almost the entire month of January, that payment is legitimately hers and does not need to be returned. No February payment should be issued. It's crucial to report her death to Social Security promptly at 1-800-772-1213. When you do, they will confirm whether any action is needed regarding her benefits. You'll also want to inquire about potential survivor benefits if applicable.

I had such a nightmare trying to reach Social Security when my grandmother passed! I called for DAYS and kept getting busy signals or disconnected. Finally I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Definitely worth it to avoid the endless calling. As for your question, they told me that monthly Social Security is paid for the current month unlike SSI which is paid for the next month. Since your mom was alive for January, that payment was correctly paid to her and you don't need to return it.

Everyone is giving different answers here! My understanding from when my wife passed is that regular Social Security retirement benefits are actually paid for the CURRENT month, not the previous month! So that Jan 30 payment was for January. Since she was alive for almost all of January, that payment was correctly made. The rules can be confusing because different SS benefits have different payment schedules.

UGH the Social security rules are SO confusing... I just want to confirm one thing - you definitely need to REPORT the death asap so they don't keep sending payments that would need to be returned. And be prepared that they might put a hold on the account when you report it (my mom's bank froze everything when dad died even though it was a joint account).

To clarify once and for all: Social Security retirement benefits are paid in the month they are DUE. The payment received on January 30, 2025 was for January 2025. The confusion here stems from the fact that SSA's official policy is that a person must be alive for the entire month to receive benefits for that month - with an exception. The exception is that if the person dies on the last day of the month (as in your mother's case - January 31), they are considered to have lived the entire month for benefit purposes. So the January 30th payment for January 2025 was correctly paid and does not need to be returned. No payment should be made for February 2025. As others have mentioned, reporting her death promptly to SSA is important to prevent any overpayments.