You may not enjoy thinking about a time when you are no longer around to be with and support your loved ones, nobody does. However, estate planning is a crucial action to take, for the sake of your loved one’s protection and peace of mind in the long term. As part of these plans, you should figure out what is to become of your Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, and your memberships to other government assistance programs. If this is at the top of your mind, please read on to discover what happens to your monthly SSDI benefits payments when you die and how a seasoned New Jersey SSDI benefits lawyer at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur can help your loved ones in the aftermath of all this.
What happens to my SSDI benefits payments when I die?
You should know that at the time of your unfortunate passing, your SSDI benefits payments will be stopped immediately. With this, you should sit down and have a discussion with your loved ones on how to handle these checks at this time, while you still have the chance to do so. Usually, a funeral director may inform the Social Security Administration (SSA) about your death on behalf of your family. However, if you wished for no funeral or burial proceedings in your honor, a funeral home may subsequently not get involved. In this case, one of your family members or another authorized representative may report your death to the SSA directly.
On rare occasions, the SSA may continue to send out further checks in the months following your passing. If this happens, your family member who receives the paper checks on your behalf must return them to the SSA. Or, your family member handling your bank account where the checks are directly deposited must inform the financial institution to return the funds to the SSA.
If these steps are not taken, your loved ones may face overpayment issues and other potential penalties. That is, if the SSA believes your loved one intentionally fails to report your death and return your checks not owed to you, they may accuse them of fraud.
What survivor benefits are available to my loved ones when I die?
You may have used your monthly SSDI benefits payments to support your dependent loved ones. So you may be understandably distraught over the fact that these payments will be stopped within the same month of your unfortunate passing. However, you may rest easier knowing that your loved ones may qualify for survivor benefits afterward.
Specifically, your potentially eligible family members include your surviving spouse of 60 years of age or older; your surviving spouse with a disability at any age; and your unmarried child of 18 years of age or younger, or 19 years of age if they still attend school. Further, your family member must have worked at least one year and six months in the three years prior to your death.
As an SSDI benefits recipient or surviving family member, there is no one better you can turn to than a competent New Jersey SSDI benefits lawyer from our firm. So please, call us at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur as soon as possible.
