Go figure...how cruel.

omg...that's crazy..i guess it was good for us to watch everything carefully when my mom passed...i went so far to pay her supplemental health ins an extra 2 months to be sure the nursing home costs were covered...

Same thing happened to my mom, way back in 1969.
But, if a person dies on the first day of the month the entire check also needs to be returned.
Seems like they could pro-rate it.

Oh. gee. And you have to deal with that right this minute.
That just hurts to hear. I am so sorry. I know you feel emotionally stomped on and you have been.

Next Sunday is your service. I hope you are treated with the respect you deserve as his wife. Just let your children lead you. I am so sorry that these months have torn you a part. Tell us how the service goes.

I have known this for many years, but still can't understand their reasoning. I used to work in a nursing home doing the billing and payroll. Many of our residents were on Medicaid and paid their share of cost from their social security checks. If they expired near the end of the month, they were expected to pay for the days they were in the facility, yet their monthly income was expected to be sent back to SS. What were they supposed to pay the facility with? Of course, it wouldn't be any different if they were living independently. They would have had rent to pay and yet their income was snatched back. I don't think I'll ever understand that.

I had to do it too........Not nice but that's the way it works.

I know it's always been that way, but it doesn't make it right in my book. I signed up for SS 4 months before I turned 62 (October) and didn't get my first check until December. Hummph! No payment for November--grrr!

I know it seems very unfair. But technically (legally) a person has to live thru an entire month to be eligible to keep the ceck. If someone dies one second before midnught, they did not live the entire month. Also, the December check is actually paid in January,so how could someone who died Dec 31 go to a bank in January and cash that check? Again, I know it's unfair but , like the song says, that's just the way it is.

That's the Federal government at work for us. I didn't know your husband passed away. I'm so sorry and even more sorry you have to deal with stuff like this.

I am sorry for you loss Phoggie.

I was already long aware of this about the SS check & I just recently helped my brother sign up on line for SS. It says on the SS site that the payment is for the *previous* month. But these kinds of rules or stipulations mean nothing to us as individuals until it affects us personally. Just like insurance, the devil is in the details.

Patti, I wonder if the reasoning for your Dec. payment is that you hadn't had a "full" month of being 62 until the month of Nov. passed, hence the checks started in Dec? I am going to go read on that b/c that will affect my 62 yr old bro's first SS check.

I found this on the ssa.gov site:
I will be 62 on August 2 of this year and that's when I plan on retiring. Will my first benefit check be for the month of August or September?
Since you were born on the second day of the month, your first month of entitlement will be the month you were born, August. To receive retirement benefits, you must be at least age 62 for the entire month. Since you were born on August 2, you legally attain your age on August 1; therefore, you are eligible for benefits for August because you are considered 62 for the entire month. However, you will receive your first benefit check in September. Social Security benefits are paid in the month following the month for which they are due.

Pattie did you apply well in advance of your 62nd birthday? It sounds as if you should have received a check in Nov. Have you called SS to ask why? I am curious for you.

BTW the "no check for the month of death" was part of the initial SS law enacted in 1939 and the legislators gave no reason for doing it this way.

beeohio, the way it was explained to me (ss rep, phone) -

If claiming earlier than full retirement age, it's birthdate plus 30 days before eligible for payment. So a 10-15 birthday ( reaching age 62) would mean benefits are available to begin on 11-15, and would be payable in December - for the month of November, not October.

On the other hand, if attaining full retirement age of 66 in October, there is no 30 days added, and benefits would begin with a check in November for the month of October.

As told to me, the 30 day non-payable waiting period is for earlier than full retirement age.

That's interesting Morz8 & seems to fit Patti's situation. But do you agree that it seems to contradict what I posted from the SSA.gov site?

I might call the local SS office & see how they respond to this question.

SS is fraught with all sorts of different permutations. There is no "one size fits all" answers, it seems.

I am sorry you are going through this after your husband's death. Please make sure you let the SS office know about his death because you are entitled to a $250.00 check & just because they asked for his SS check back don't take any chances they will just send you the other check. My prayers are with you

So it looks like Social Security burns you twice-when you first retire and then the month you die. Sad for any widows/widowers who need the money. And that $255 is an insult-not nearly enough to pay for a funeral, which it what it was meant for originally.

If you can't afford to pay it back in the lump sum they will let you pay in payments. It doesn't seem right since if you retire at 62 they actually hold back a month so looks like you would be entitled to last check.