Community Chat

[tansy]

My mother died the third week of the month and I was instructed to return the check but I called SS right away.

[KathyPet]

Just because she got death certificates does not mean she notified the SSA of her mother's death. She did not and the benefits just kept being paid via (I assume) direct deposit into the joint account she had with her mother. Collecting life insurance, going through probate which may not even have occurred if there were no assets or liabilities or will has nothing to do with reporting a death to the SSA.

[Gooday]

When my dad and I were sitting in the funeral director's office the day my mom died, he walked us through this process. We knew but, he did it anyway. I would imagine they all do this.

Did any funeral directors share this information with any of you posters?

[KathyPet]

On 3/15/2015 Gooday said:

When my dad and I were sitting in the funeral director's office the day my mom died, he walked us through this process. We knew but, he did it anyway. I would imagine they all do this.

Did any funeral directors share this information with any of you posters?

My parents died many years ago and I do not remember but I do know that I notified the SSA of my father's death myself within a couple of weeks of his death.

[foundinlv]

On 3/15/2015 Gooday said:

When my dad and I were sitting in the funeral director's office the day my mom died, he walked us through this process. We knew but, he did it anyway. I would imagine they all do this.

Did any funeral directors share this information with any of you posters?

No. My husband had his mom cremated and there was no service. We were not given any information. My husband too had a joint account with his mother when the end became near....his mother did so in person at the credit union.

[RainCityGirl]

On 3/15/2015 KathyPet said: Just because she got death certificates does not mean she notified the SSA of her mother's death. She did not and the benefits just kept being paid via (I assume) direct deposit into the joint account she had with her mother. Collecting life insurance, going through probate which may not even have occurred if there were no assets or liabilities or will has nothing to do with reporting a death to the SSA.

If you're talking to me, I never said that. I pointed out that you have to submit death certificates to various places upon a death for proof. I was also pointing out that even life insurance has to have a death certificate to collect. As a matter of fact, I was just listing all the things that have to occur after a death and must be reported. I did not link them ALL to SS, but instead noted things that have to be done. My first statements covered the SS requirement. The death certificates came up in mentioning the funeral home information that is given out. Geez. I thought I was being very clear with what I said. I've executed my dad's estate, my mother's estate, and my aunt's estate. I'm not just making up a bunch of things to post here.

[tansy]

On 3/15/2015 Ilikeshade said:

On 3/15/2015 Gooday said:

When my dad and I were sitting in the funeral director's office the day my mom died, he walked us through this process. We knew but, he did it anyway. I would imagine they all do this.

Did any funeral directors share this information with any of you posters?

No. My husband had his mom cremated and there was no service. We were not given any information. My husband too had a joint account with his mother when the end became near....his mother did so in person at the credit union.

Not that I remember. My parents had prepaid for their cremations and crypt. They did not want a service. I was surprised to be asked to return that mont's check but knew I needed to let them know she had died, as well as the pension plan. I'm smart that way

[RainCityGirl]

On 3/15/2015 Gooday said:

When my dad and I were sitting in the funeral director's office the day my mom died, he walked us through this process. We knew but, he did it anyway. I would imagine they all do this.

Did any funeral directors share this information with any of you posters?

Yes, all of it, plus I later got more info when I was executor first of my dad's estate and then I executed two other estates. There was a laundry list given that I checked off.

[JustJazzmom]

All I know is that funeral directors mentioned how many death certificates you might need to order for various notifications.

It boggles the mind that someone would not question why they are still getting their mother's SS payments.

It's up to the living survivors to notify all agencies that the deceased was involved with in their lives.

This also means notifying homeowner's insurance, property assessors of the town where your relative lived-- certain benefits are no longer available if a person dies still owning a house (if a person was a Veteran and was entitled to Veteran's exemption on their property or school taxes.)

I hope the woman has to pay back the SS Administration for all those payments!

[sgraham30]

When my mother died, the funeral parlor that we used reported her death to Social Security. I then had to fill out forms giving the names, addresses, & relation to deceased for the 3 of us kids. I had to send the completed/signed documentation to a specific address that I was given by Social Security. Her last benefit check was split into thirds, with each of us getting 1/3 of her monthly benefit.

I'm not sure about the jail time but this woman should most definitely have to pay back whatever amount she received in benefits over the 30+ years that she received the benefits.