Can Ssi Money Be Used On Rent By Repayee

The Social Security Administration (SSA) manages the ii largest government do good programs for people with special needs, Social Security Inability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Many of the people with special needs who receive these benefits are qualified to manage their own coin and tin can make other financial decisions for themselves. The SSA sends these people their own benefit check each calendar month.

Notwithstanding, when a person with special needs cannot make of import financial decisions, either because of her disability or because she has non reached the historic period of majority, the SSA sends the benefits directly to a third party, known as a representative payee, who is charged with managing the funds for the beneficiary. When a parent or caregiver signs up to be a representative payee, they oft do non take the fourth dimension to truly explore what they are getting into, which could lead to trouble downward the road. Hither are a few key things to recall about beingness a representative payee.

It's Not Your Money

The funds you receive are the beneficiary'due south funds, not yours. When you concur to be a representative payee, you are responsible for managing the casher'south money for their benefit, not yours. In almost all cases, this means that you are not allowed to charge a fee to exist a representative payee. It's easy to lose runway of the beneficiary's funds, especially when family unit finances are mixed together. Every bit a representative payee, you must ensure that the monthly payments become to, and are used for, the beneficiary and no one else.

Don't Commingle

The best fashion to ensure that the beneficiary's funds are used for their do good is to segregate the funds in a separate banking company account. This account should reflect the beneficiary'south ownership of the funds, and should not be a articulation business relationship with the representative payee as the other possessor. Instead, the bank account should be titled in the name of the casher, with the representative payee noted on the business relationship, i.e., "Your name, equally representative payee for your child'due south name." Evidently, this can be difficult when you are serving every bit the representative payee for a pocket-sized child who lives with you. In these cases, the SSA says that the kid should have his own savings business relationship, fifty-fifty if most of his benefits are existence spent out of the family unit's checking account.

File Your Representative Payee Report

The SSA requires that a representative payee file an annual accounting called the Representative Payee Study. This report details what you, equally the representative payee, take done with the beneficiary's funds during the previous twelvemonth. If you have kept accurate records of the beneficiary's funds over the course of the yr, the report will be very easy to fill up out. Commingling funds, or not keeping accurate records of expenditures, can lead to an incredible headache when it comes time to file the report. Not filing the written report, on the other mitt, could lead to your removal every bit representative payee.

Know the SSI Rules

If you are serving as a representative payee for a person receiving SSI benefits, your job is fabricated even more hard by the SSI program'due south stringent income and asset rules. For instance, SSI beneficiaries can accept only $2,000 in their proper noun in order to be eligible for benefits. As representative payee, y'all must make certain that you know the rules regarding nugget accumulation and their outcome on the beneficiary. You lot must also bargain with whatever lump-sum payments that the casher may receive as "past due" SSI benefits, which take their own gear up of rules. In a worse-case scenario, not knowing the rules can lead to loss of benefits and the possibility of overpayments that the casher must repay from her ain funds.

Get Aid

As you can see, existence a representative payee is a difficult job that should non be undertaken lightly. The SSA offers a guide for representative payees here, only the all-time manner to make certain that you have a handle on your duties is to speak with your special needs planner, who tin can explicate the intricacies of the organization and requite y'all tips that fit your particular family member.

Last Modified: 09/29/2020

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