# When a spouse dies, how does Social Security do things ?



## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

Recently, the cousin's mom passed away. She was 90. Her Dad is still
alive and well and not sure his age, but around 90.
So during a conversation today, cousin made mention that her Dad's checking
account has been frozen. So who does this .....social security ?
I can understand part of the account, but why all the money frozen ? 

So in our household, we have two checking accounts. His SS and pension,
goes into the primary one, and my SS goes into the second account. I did this
a few years, because of some advice from our bank. So now I am thinking if
something happens to my husband, then my account should be safe and I would
have some money to continue on with till the SS gets things straightened around.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

the father or excecutor would have cancelled pensions and ss right away. I wouldn't think ss had anything to do with it. most likely the bank froze it for something. sometimes they do it when they find out people have passed. course I don't know how it works down there. others who know will chime in soon.

we had a joint account and I had my own. none were interrupted. course I didn't mention they had passed to the bank until I went in with the wills and whatnot. I did have trouble with one bank when my friend passed even though everything was joint and I was the sole beneficiary it was still months before they would release my money ~Georgia


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I just went through something like this a few months ago after my wife died. The account wasn't frozen, but SS check did not show up on the date received and they stopped emailing notifications of deposits and some withdrawals. A few emails fixed that.
If it is frozen, the only thing I can of is that the wife may have been overpaid and SS is withdrawing the overdrawn payments. Your cousing and her dad need to visit the bank


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

You're supposed to get $255, as the surviving spouse. You may need to contact SSA yourself to get that.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Clem said:


> You're supposed to get $255, as the surviving spouse. You may need to contact SSA yourself to get that.


Yes, you have to contact SSA to get it. I called in and had to make an appointment for a phone call about 3 weeks later. Believe it or not that call took about 30 minutes and the questions were ridiculous.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

My mom got her SS on the first of the month. She passed on Feb 27th and since she died during the month the SS office demanded Feb payment back in full. I thought that was pretty crappy since I had already paid the care person for the entire month of Feb with that SS payment.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

sisterpine said:


> My mom got her SS on the first of the month. She passed on Feb 27th and since she died during the month the SS office demanded Feb payment back in full. I thought that was pretty crappy since I had already paid the care person for the entire month of Feb with that SS payment.


Same with my mom. I had all her bills on auto pay in the beginning of the month. So i had to repay SS the full month as well. She pasted on the 29th. Had to return her retirement mom from dad as well for that month dad had past 10 years before mom. You only get one death benefit. Mom collected the 200 some $ on dad i could not collect it on mom.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Forcast said:


> Same with my mom. I had all her bills on auto pay in the beginning of the month. So i had to repay SS the full month as well. She pasted on the 29th. Had to return her retirement mom from dad as well for that month dad had past 10 years before mom. You only get one death benefit. Mom collected the 200 some $ on dad i could not collect it on mom.


My wife's SS check was the second Wednesday of each month. She died on the 27th. and they did not ask for anything back.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

I would talk with the bank. My mom was just widowed and when she called the bank to ask if they were planning of freezing the account they told her no, if her name is on the account with his there is no need.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

From what I understand now, it was a temporary freeze. The account is back to normal now.

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

sisterpine said:


> My mom got her SS on the first of the month. She passed on Feb 27th and since she died during the month the SS office demanded Feb payment back in full.


The "February" payment doesn't come until March.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Bearfootfarm said:


> The "February" payment doesn't come until March.


Actually SS pays in advance, so the March payment would have to be returned if they died before March 1st.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

mnn2501 said:


> Actually SS pays in advance, so the March payment would have to be returned if they died before March 1st.


You don't receive your first SS payment the month you qualify, so you are always running a month behind. 

When my mother died on the 27th of June, the only payment that had to be returned was the one that came on the 3rd of July. Money that had already been received was not affected at all.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Bearfootfarm said:


> You don't receive your first SS payment the month you qualify, so you are always running a month behind.
> 
> When my mother died on the 27th of June, the only payment that had to be returned was the one that came on the 3rd of July. Money that had already been received was not affected at all.


My wife died on the May 27th and she did not receive a SS check in June. Her normal date was the 2nd. Wednesday of each month.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Bearfootfarm said:


> When my mother died on the 27th of June, the only payment that had to be returned was the one that came on the 3rd of July. Money that had already been received was not affected at all.


Your example proves my point: she was alive in June so that payment (June 3rd) was kept, she was dead before July 1st so that payment (July 3rd) had to be returned.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

mnn2501 said:


> Your example proves my point: she was alive in June so that payment (June 3rd) was kept, she was dead before July 1st so that payment (July 3rd) had to be returned.


Your "point" has nothing to do with the post I was replying to, and changes nothing I said.:



sisterpine said:


> She *passed on Feb 27th* and since she died during the month the SS office *demanded Feb payment back* in full.


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

Furthermore, SS payments are NEVER paid in advance.

"All Social Security checks are paid one month in arrears."
http://tucson.com/business/national...cle_647e9de6-4898-5922-a6d0-0d8fcdb6bfab.html

From SSA.gov 
Social Security benefits are paid the month after they are due.

If you tell us you want your benefits to start in May, you will receive your first benefit check in June. (If you want to receive your first benefit check in May, you need to be eligible for benefits in April AND tell us you want your benefits to start that month.)
https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/applying1.html


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

When my father passed away, the coroner who was also the funeral home director helped us in notifying SSA , getting my mother the $255 death payment and verifying he had lived long enough during his final month that the month's payment did not have to be returned and there was no check the following month.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

ladytoysdream said:


> Recently, the cousin's mom passed away. She was 90. Her Dad is still
> alive and well and not sure his age, but around 90.
> So during a conversation today, cousin made mention that her Dad's checking
> account has been frozen. So who does this .....social security ?
> ...


If it was an individual account, the bank freezes it upon notification of death. The proper person then has to set up arrangements with the bank to get the money. The estate is a different "person" in banking world. If the estate isn't administered, then the legal heirs have to demonstrate they are the legal heirs and each will have to sign a form and it takes a few months after the death before the funds are released. In my mom's case, I just had all my brothers and sisters sign an authorization to turn it all over to me as I was the one informally probating and administering the estate i.e. I was one paying the bills as they came in. It wasn't that big a thing really. I had used the POA to strip all the money out when she went downhill (she knew what I was doing) and the SS checks coming in between then and her death I wrote out to bills. 

The funeral home generally notifies SS of the death when they file the death certificate. If funds have been sent but not yet payable, they will back that transaction out of the account and the heirs have to file a form directly with the SSA including a copy of their birth certificates, to claim.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

The $255 ages old death benefit can only be claimed by the widow or widower. No estate, ex spouse or child is eligible for it.

As far as the being alive period stipulation of SSA retirement pension, that is why many retirees try to cushion their cash reserves a month or two worth to give the surviving spouse time to get financial matters realigned and life insurance policies cashed in to transition to a one person income during the 6 weeks or so after the spouse has died.

When my father passed away at home the coroner / funeral home director time of death declared him and took the corpse to begin the prepaid cremation process.

The following day he delivered the cremains , went through all the paperwork with us and had my mother sign the surviving spouse paperwork to receive the token burial benefit as the arrangements were all prepaid and there was no outstanding balance due with the funeral home so the $255 was sent to her instead of the funeral home.

In addition to the official death certificate copy for her files, he also gave here 15 or 20 copies of it with red "Copy " stamps on them for her to give to the bank or creditors.

One thing I still remember is as he walked us through the initial steps to take following the death, he told my mother that he knew the $255 was a drop in the financial bucket in the present (1992) and barely covered a flower arrangement or two , but in the 1930s it covered a no frill funeral and often a month or so worth of income.

We all shared a smile when she said she was glad they had pre arranged everything and the $255 would cover the barbecue buffet from my father's favorite barbecue shack after we scattered his cremains and invited his friends to the house for post scattering reception.


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

Once again, from the SSA website, itself: 
https://www.ssa.gov/planners/survivors/ifyou7.html
"A surviving spouse or *child* may receive a special lump-sum death payment of $255 if they meet certain requirements.

Generally, the lump-sum is paid to the surviving spouse who was living in the same household with the worker when they died. If they were living apart, the surviving spouse can still receive the lump-sum if, during the month the worker died, they:


were already receiving benefits on the worker's record; *or*
became eligible for benefits upon the worker's death.
If there's no eligible surviving spouse, the lump-sum can be paid to the worker's child (or children) if, during the month the worker died, the child:


was already receiving benefits on the worker's record; *or*
became eligible for benefits upon the worker's death.
If the eligible surviving spouse or child is not currently receiving benefits, they must apply for this payment within two years of the date of death.

For more information about this lump-sum payment, contact your local Social Security office or call *1-800-772-1213* ( TTY *1-800-325-0778*)."

For a program as well documented as Social Security, there is a plethora of commonly accepted misinformation disseminated.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

you guys only get 255 death payment? we get 2500 or so. that covered everything for me for both of my husbands. course I went as inexpensively as I could. cost my friend 10 000 for his wife and he's still paying it off.~Georgia


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

That's what I got when DH died almost 10 years ago. Fortunately (or not) he died in a VA hospital & was buried in a VA cemetery, so with what VA paid ($2,200), his funeral and the dinner for close friends & family after was entirely paid.

I think it was about 3 years later that my son-in-laws' father died. My daughter handled most of the arrangements after a funeral home tried to sell a 10,000 funeral to her mother-in-law...."they'd let her make *payments*!" They ended up paying a touch over $2,300 for the funeral, transfer to a cemetery 100 miles north to where the man had lived many years ago, and the tombstone. My daughter knows how to deal.

Mon


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

yeah FM. see I didn't know that until after I had Andrew cremated that they would pay for everything. also he had a plot already paid for back in 49 by one of his wives but didn't want to go there.

I've been all these years not knowing what I should do I didn't even know which cemetery until a couple months ago. I called and you can't just spread ashes now. they wanted 8 or so hundred for whatever they do.(tiny hole about 6 inch square) bunch of vultures! my son said many people do it and just don't tell anyone.

I could have spread him on my land. for some reason though i didn't feel good about any of it.anyway I found out last week I can take him over to rest at the sanctuary at the coast guard I think it is and they have a burial at sea every may for the vets. it must be the right thing because I feel really good about it. so yes I got all the papers ready last night and I'm going over with his cremains on Friday ~Georgia


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Your son is right! LOL!

My husband didn't want cremation, so we went the other route. I am all for cremation for myself, so guess I'll rest in a hole on top of him at the VA cemetery. 

I love that burial at sea! I'd bet my husband would have gone for that, if he'd known it was an option (ex-Navy)! I think it is so very nice of you to want to do what would be right for your DH. Kudos to you!

Mon


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

Andrew was ex navy too! I thought it was tomorrow but found out last night it was today.i just got back. my son drove me over because I had never been in stadacona but he worked there. it's like a small city onto itself. I would have gotten lost in no time.


yes i'm sure it was right FM. felt right when I left him. he was always proud to serve his country. he was in the british navy for years until he found out he could be transferred to Canadian navy.he was born in Manitoba but his mother took him back to Lincolnshire with her when he was 6. I can take 4 others with me on the ship for the service but it'll likely be just my son and I unless my bro. is visiting in may.~Georgia


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

What I did the morning Dave died, I went to the banks where we had both names on the accounts and took all the money out. Just in case!

Mon


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## 1OldBear (Oct 5, 2017)

When my late wife got really ill, I was afraid she was not going to make it and regrettably I was right. Fortunately our church has its own in sanctuary columbarium so I bought a niche that will hold two. I don't know for sure that I will still want to be there thirty years from now but it's a good bet. I'm military retired so I suspect that the cost of my cremation/memorial will also be completely covered.


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