# please help anyone \[Social Security check for deceased sister\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550 "2013-11-10T03:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![forlorn\_sister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@forlorn\_sister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/forlorn_sister)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/1 "2013-11-10T03:37:19Z")
Sure could use some advise about this situation\> My dear sister passed November 1st 2013 and I have an issue with my credit union. Her last social security check was sent back after receiving it on November 1st (due to the 3rd falling on Sunday).This check was earned by her for October and according to Social Security was entitled to it but credit union sent it back anyway. Her wish was that it help pay for her final expenses. She was in a nursing home. What recourse to I have against the credit union if any. Not looking for her death benefit or any future checks just what she was entitled to. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/2 "2013-11-10T04:14:20Z")
Slight misapprehension in the OP. Check was not earned in the previous month; it is sent in advance for use in the next month. My father-in-law died on New Year’s Eve, and the PO returned the check to SS without delivering. My father died in the middle of the month and we had to return half his check. I think this is a shitty system since it kicks the grieving when they’re down, and when they need the money. I didn’t pay attention when I got my first SS check at the same time as my last paycheck, but this is what it causes. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/3 "2013-11-10T04:19:57Z")
I agree with svd678. In order to keep the check you must be alive the entire month. The check is paid in advance; November’s check is yours to keep only if you live through the month. If your sister had died a day earlier, Social Security would have taken October’s money back. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/4 "2013-11-10T05:46:46Z")
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO. Thread title edited to indicate subject. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/5 "2013-11-10T19:43:54Z")
SSI is paid in advance; Social Security is paid for the previous month. [http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a\_id/349](http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/349) So the answer depends on the program from which your sister received benefits. Contact the Social Security caseworker; if the credit union returned the benefit incorrectly, the check will be reissued. There is no need to take any legal action against the credit union. However, since she was in a nursing home, IF she was also on Medicaid, she still is only entitled to a portion (I believe it’s $40) of the check and the balance of the check is owed to the nursing home. IIRC ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/6 "2013-11-10T23:51:43Z")
In case no one else says it, sorry for your loss. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/7 "2013-11-11T03:14:10Z")
> [@Suse](#): > > SSI is paid in advance; Social Security is paid for the previous month. [http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a\_id/349](http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/349) > > So the answer depends on the program from which your sister received benefits. Contact the Social Security caseworker; if the credit union returned the benefit incorrectly, the check will be reissued. There is no need to take any legal action against the credit union. > > However, since she was in a nursing home, IF she was also on Medicaid, she still is only entitled to a portion (I believe it’s $40) of the check and the balance of the check is owed to the nursing home. IIRC Thank you for finding that. I was incorrect, and it must be because I’ve heard too many stories of people complaining that their husband’s December check was taken back because he didn’t live through November, and not the December check taken back because he didn’t live through December. ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/8 "2013-11-11T05:20:41Z")
It can be confusing. My job involves being rep payee for people and I still have to look this sort of thing up after all this time. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-anyone-social-security-check-for-deceased-sister/673550/9 "2013-11-11T06:09:08Z")
The link says that benefits are not paid for the month in which a person dies, and must be returned. Which is what I said. (I was thinking that the payment would be pro-rated, which may not be true.) Checks are not sent out in a different month. We receive direct payments on the third day and the second Tuesday, Nov. checks in Nov.