How to notify Social Security of a death

How to notify Social Security of a death

To notify Social Security of a death, either give the funeral director the person’s Social Security number so they can report it, or call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or visit a local office. SSA does not accept death reports online or by email. Report as soon as you can.

1. Find the Social Security number.It is on the person’s Social Security card, tax returns, Medicare card, or benefit statements.
2. Ask the funeral director to report the death. Most funeral homes do this as a routine step if you give them the number. Ask them to confirm once it is done.
3. Or call SSA yourself at 1-800-772-1213. TTY users call 1-800-325-0778. You can also go to a local Social Security office in person.
4. Stop any payment for the month of death. If a benefit lands after the death, do not spend it. Ask the bank to return a direct deposit; do not cash a paper check.
5. Ask about survivor benefits on the same call. A surviving spouse or child may qualify for the one-time $255 lump-sum death payment and, separately, for monthly survivor benefits.

Source: USA.gov, “Report a death to Social Security”. This is one of the first agency notifications on the what to do when someone dies checklist, and it sits near the top of the executor’s list because every month of delay creates another payment that has to be clawed back.

Does the funeral home report it?

Usually, yes. Funeral directors routinely report deaths to SSA, and USA.gov lists this as the first option: provide the deceased person’s Social Security number to the funeral director so they can report the death. If you did not give them the number, they cannot do it.

Do not treat this as done until you have confirmed it. Two things go wrong in practice: the number was never handed over, or the report was made but a payment still went out because of timing. Either way, a follow-up call to 1-800-772-1213 costs a few minutes and settles it. If you are the executor and someone else arranged the funeral, ask them directly whether the funeral home was given the number.

What you will need

Reporting by phone is a short conversation. Have the following ready so you are not called back for a second round:

• The person’s full name and Social Security number
• Date of birth and date of death
• Your name, your relationship to the person, and a callback number
• Whether the person was receiving Social Security, SSI, or Medicare
• The death certificate, if you have it. A certified copy is not usually required to report by phone, but have it handy in case the representative asks for details from it, and you will need certified copies for banks and other agencies regardless.

If the funeral home has not yet delivered death certificates, do not wait for them to make the call. See how many death certificates you need for who will ask for certified copies and who will accept a photocopy.

What happens to the last payment

The rule, in SSA’s words: “The SSA cannot pay benefits for the month of a recipient’s death.” Social Security pays each month’s benefit in the month that follows it, so the payment that arrives after a death is the payment for the month the person died, and it is not owed.

USA.gov gives the concrete example: if the person died in July, the check or direct deposit received in August (which is the payment for July) must be returned. This is true even if the person died on the last day of the month. The June payment, received in July, was earned and stays.

If a payment lands after death, do this:

• Direct deposit: notify the bank as soon as possible and ask it to return the payment for the month of death and any that arrived later. The bank sends it back to SSA. Do not move the money to the estate account or use it for expenses.
• Paper check: do not cash or deposit it. Return it to SSA; the representative on the phone can tell you where to send it.
• Joint accounts:a joint account does not change the rule. The deceased person’s payment for the month of death still has to go back, whoever else is on the account.

Keep a note of the date you called the bank and the amount returned. If SSA later sends a notice about an overpayment, that record answers it.

Survivor benefits and the $255 lump-sum payment

Social Security pays a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 to a qualifying surviving spouse, or to a qualifying child if there is no spouse. It is a fixed amount, it is paid once, and it does not go to the estate. Source: SSA, survivor benefit amounts.

Apply by calling 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or at a local Social Security office. The simplest approach is to report the death and ask about the lump-sum payment in the same call, because the representative needs the same details for both.

The $255 payment is separate from monthly survivor benefits. Whether a surviving spouse or dependent child qualifies for ongoing monthly payments depends on SSA’s eligibility rules and the deceased person’s work record; ask the representative to check when you call. Executors are not usually the applicant here, but it is worth making sure the survivor knows to ask, since nobody else will raise it.

Medicare

You do not need to make a separate call to Medicare. SSA handles death reports for both Social Security and Medicare, so reporting the death to SSA closes the Medicare enrollment as well.

What still needs attention is anything attached to Medicare rather than run by it: a Medicare Advantage plan, a Part D drug plan, or a Medigap supplement is a private insurer’s policy, and premiums may keep drafting until that company is told. Add those to the cancellations list, along with any medical bills that arrive after the death for the executor to review before paying.

If the person was receiving SSI or was a veteran

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

SSI is administered by SSA, so you report the death the same way: by phone at 1-800-772-1213, in person, or through the funeral director. Tell the representative the person was receiving SSI. Treat any SSI payment that arrives after the death the same as a Social Security payment: do not spend it, and ask SSA what to return.

Veterans

Reporting to SSA does not reach the Department of Veterans Affairs. If the person was receiving VA compensation or a pension, or had VA health care, notify the VA separately through VA.gov. The catalogue lists this as its own task, “Notify the Department of Veterans Affairs (if a veteran),” directly after the Social Security task, because the two are easy to conflate and the VA has its own survivor programs to ask about.

Once both notifications are made, note the date and the name of anyone you spoke to. Agency reports are the kind of task that is quick to do and hard to prove later, and the executor is the one who will be asked.