My brother died 5/13/18. His SSA benefits were automatically sent to his bank on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. It is my understanding that the May payment would have been for the month of April (1-30), and the June payment would be for the month of May (1-31). I am the Executor of his Will, and in that Will it clearly specifies that he leaves NO provision for his daughter. They have been estranged for years. His parents and spouse pre-deceased him. While talking with a representative at his bank on 5/15/18, I mentioned that he passed away, and they IMMEDIATELY blocked his account from accepting any future credits and debits. His May SSA payment never posted, so I am assuming they returned it. I was expecting the June payment to have been returned, but not the May payment. I am filling out the SSA-1724 form and if I am reading it correctly, the daughter looks to be entitled to his unposted May payment as well as the additional 13 days of what would have been his June payment. Since his Last Will and Testament specifically state that NO provision of his assets are being made for his child, will Social Security take that into consideration and send the missing May payment and the additional 13 days of what would have been the June payment to the Executor of the Estate instead?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

There would be no Social Security payment or partial payment due for the month of May (i.e. the payment scheduled to be paid in June), but the payment for April that would have been issued to your brother on the 3rd Wednesday of May would be payable to someone as an underpayment. Social Security regulations include a specific priority order for determining the individual(s) who can be paid an underpayment (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-1724.html), and that priority order is followed regardless of anything stated in the deceased person's will. Therefore, if your brother has 1 surviving child and no surviving spouse, then the child would be the only person who could be paid the underpayment.

Best, Jerry