How to notify Social Security of a death

You cannot report a death to Social Security online. In most cases the funeral home reports it for you, but only if you give them the person's Social Security number and ask them to. Confirm that they did rather than assuming.

If no funeral home is involved, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The payment that has to go back

This is the part that catches families out, and the part most articles state incorrectly.

Social Security pays a month behind. The payment that arrives in August is for July. Social Security does not pay a benefit for the month a person dies, so the payment arriving the month after the death is the one that has to be returned.

Social Security's own example: if the person died in July, the benefits paid in August must be returned.

If the payment came as a check: do not cash any check received for the month of death or later.

If it came by direct deposit: contact the bank and ask it to return any funds received for the month of death or later.

What is not true

You will read that any payment landing after the date of death must be returned. That is wrong, and it causes families to hand back money they are entitled to.

Social Security's internal guidance is explicit about this. Someone who died after the close of the month a payment covered was entitled to that payment, and Social Security does not request it back. Its staff are specifically instructed not to tell a bank it was wrong to have kept such a payment.

There is a related trap. A bank must return direct deposits that arrive after it learns of the death, but it does not decide whether a payment was owed. A bank can return money that was rightfully the person's. If that happens, the survivor or the estate claims it as an underpayment using form SSA-1724. Payments deposited before the death and then pulled back afterward are an asset of the estate.

What to do in practice:

• Do not spend a payment that arrives around the time of death.
• Do not close the receiving account right away. A closed account makes this messier, not cleaner.
• Write down which payments arrived, on what dates, and for which months. That record is what you need if a payment is taken back in error.

The $255 lump-sum death payment

Social Security pays a one-time death payment of $255. Who can receive it is narrower than most summaries suggest.

• A surviving spouse who was living with the person at death.
• A surviving spouse living apart, but only if, during the month the worker died, they were already receiving benefits on that record or became eligible because of the death.
• A child eligible on the record, but only if there is no surviving spouse.

The child is a fallback, not an alternative. If a surviving spouse exists and qualifies, the payment goes there.

Apply within two years of the date of death. If nobody in those categories exists, the payment is not made. It is not paid to an estate.

Ongoing survivor benefits

Separate from the $255, monthly survivor benefits may be available:

• A widow or widower from age 60, at a reduced amount.
• From age 50 if they have a disability.
• At any age if caring for the deceased's child who is under 16.
• An unmarried child under 18, or up to 19 while a full-time student in elementary or secondary school.
• A child 18 or older whose disability began before age 22.
• Parents 62 or older who depended on the deceased for at least half their support.
• A divorced spouse may qualify on an ex-spouse's record where the marriage lasted long enough.

Timing matters and is hard to reverse. Claiming a survivor benefit early permanently reduces it, and in some situations it is better to take one benefit first and switch later. Ask Social Security or a financial professional before you file.

What to have ready before you call

• The deceased's Social Security number
• Date of birth and date of death
• A certified death certificate, if applying for benefits
• Your own Social Security number, and those of any children applying
• Marriage certificate, for a spousal claim
• Divorce decree, for a claim on an ex-spouse's record
• Bank routing and account number for direct deposit

Medicare

Reporting the death to Social Security also handles Medicare. You do not report it separately. Notify any Medicare Advantage or Part D plan so premiums stop, and call any private supplemental insurer yourself.

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The 72-Hour File has a contact-and-accounts section for exactly these calls, with room to record which payments arrived and when. See what is inside