Health & Benefits

A representative payee is someone who manages your Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The payee can be an individual or an organization.  Managing your benefits means that Social Security pays your benefits to the representative payee on your behalf. The payee uses the benefits to meet your basic needs.

Social Security appoints representative payees for both SSI and its insurance programs. Social Security can appoint a representative payee for any of the different benefits it administers.

Social Security will appoint a representative payee if it decides you are not able to manage your money in your best interest. Social Security almost always appoints a representative payee for a child (someone who is under 18 years old). Here are situations when Social Security will appoint a representative payee for an adult (someone who is 18 or older):

• You are legally incompetent. This means a court has appointed a guardian of your person or estate.
• You have a mental impairment that keeps you from spending your money to meet your basic needs.
• You are physically unable to manage your benefits or direct someone else to manage your benefits for you.

If you suffer from alcohol or drug addiction, Social Security is likely to appoint a representative payee for you. However, Social Security’s policy allows them to pay you directly if you have alcohol or drug addiction but you are capable of handling your own money responsibly.

Social Security must use evidence in making a decision to appoint a representative payee. They will look at medical evidence. They will also look at other evidence, such as evidence from social workers, your family, and other people who know you. They also will interview you to ask about how you handle your money.

Sometimes an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decision says that you need a representative payee. The local Social Security office still must make its own decision on whether you need a payee. 

You have the right to appeal Social Security’s decision that you need a representative payee. Social Security will tell you in writing that it has decided you need a representative payee. At the same time, they probably will tell you who they plan to appoint as your payee. You have the right to appeal Social Security's decision that you need a payee. You also have the right to appeal Social Security's decision about who will be your payee. You have the right to see the evidence Social Security used when it decided you need a payee.

You should appeal Social Security’s decision in writing. Your appeal is called a “request for reconsideration.” You can request reconsideration online, or you can use Social Security's appeal form. If you use the appeal form, make sure you have proof that you gave the form to Social Security. Also, be sure to keep a copy for yourself. For example, you can drop the form off at the local Social Security office and have the worker sign on your copy that Social Security received it.

You should appeal as soon as possible. The deadline for appeal is 65 days from the date of the notice. However, if you file your appeal within 10 days of the date of the notice, Social Security will not put the representative payee in place until the appeal is decided.

If Social Security does not change its decision after the reconsideration, you have the right to appeal the decision to an Administrative Law Judge.

Learn more about the appeals process on the Social Security website.  

Social Security’s rules include a list of possible representative payees. Social Security appoints someone from the start of the list, if possible.

For children, Social Security's first choice for representative payee is:

• the biological or adoptive parent who has custody of the child, or
• the legal guardian.

If no one fits that description or there is a reason not to appoint that person, Social Security’s rules list other possible payees.

For adults, Social Security’s first choice for representative payee is:

• your spouse or another relative such as a parent or adult child, or
• your legal guardian, if you have one.

The person should either live with you or show that they have a strong interest in your well-being.

For adults, Social Security's second choice is a friend who either lives with you or shows that they have a strong interest in your well-being. If no one fits those descriptions or there is a reason not to appoint that person, Social Security’s rules list other possible payees.

If you have a substance use disorder (alcohol or drugs), the rule is different. In that case, Social Security’s first choice for a representative payee is a non-profit social service agency. Social Security’s second choice is a federal, state, or local government agency whose mission is to carry out income maintenance, social service, or health care-related activities.

Social Security’s policies say that they should talk with you about who should be your representative payee. The person or agency must fill out an application to be your representative payee. Before appointing the person as your representative payee, Social Security meets face-to-face with the payee. They do an investigation which includes verifying the payee’s identity and a criminal background check.

You have the right to appeal Social Security's decision about who will be your payee. You appeal the same way that you appeal the decision that you need a representative payee. Learn more about the appeals process on the Social Security website. 

Yes. You can tell Social Security who you would like to have as your representative payee if you need one in the future. For example, suppose you have two or more adult children, and you want to decide which of them will be your payee. You can make an “advance designation of representative payee.” This tells Social Security which of your children you prefer as your payee.

Social Security will follow your wishes unless there is a specific reason not to. For example, if the person you choose has moved away, is in ill health, or has a felony record.

You can change the person you choose at any point up until the time Social Security decides that you need a representative payee. However, you cannot name an agency or organization to be your representative payee using an advance designation.

Learn more about choosing your payee in advance on the Social Security website. 

Your representative payee must use your benefits to meet your needs. For example, your payee must use your benefits to pay for your:

• Rent,
• Utilities,
• Food,
• Clothes,
• Medical needs, and
• Everyday needs, like soap and shampoo.

Your payee must use their best judgment in spending your benefits. There are very specific rules a representative payee must follow saying when the payee can use your benefits to pay your debts.

Your payee must keep your money in a separate bank account, unless your payee is:

• Your spouse, parent, or step-parent who lives with you, or
• A government or social service agency.

If there is money left over after your payee makes sure your needs are met, the payee must invest that money wisely. Any interest is also yours.

Your payee can give you a small amount of spending money if all of your basic needs are met. However, your payee should not simply turn over the benefits to you.

Your payee cannot use your money to meet their own needs. This is true unless your payee lives with you and uses the money for common expenses, like household rent or utilities. 

Your representative payee is required to use your benefits to meet your needs. But, your payee is not required to give you money to spend yourself. In fact, other than a small amount of spending money, your representative payee should not and is not allowed to give you money.

Your representative payee is not allowed to use your benefits for their own needs. This is true except when you live together and the payee uses your money to pay your share of household costs, like rent and utilities.

Your representative payee must use your benefits to meet your basic needs. If there is any money left after paying for your basic needs, your payee must invest the money. When your payee does not use your benefits for your basic needs or invest them for you, Social Security calls this “misuse.”

Social Security will try to get your payee to repay if they misused your benefits. If Social Security does collect from your payee, it will pay the money to you or if you have a new payee, to your new payee to use for your needs. In some cases, Social Security will pay you even if it has not collected from your payee. For example, if Social Security failed to follow its own rules in appointing, investigating, or checking up on your payee, it might pay you or your new payee before collecting.

You have the right to ask Social Security to change your representative payee. Make that request in writing and keep a copy.

Social Security may replace your payee if it decides your payee has not used your benefits to meet your needs. Social Security also may replace your payee if:

• Your payee does not provide information about how they spent your benefits,
• Your payee dies,
• Your payee does not want to continue as payee, or
• Your payee is no longer able to serve as your payee. For example, if your payee has become disabled and is no longer able the serve as your payee.

Note of caution: If Social Security decides to remove your payee but does not find a new payee right away, it may temporarily pay your benefits directly to you. Or, Social Security may suspend your benefits and not pay you until it finds a new payee for you.

You have the right to ask Social Security to stop making payments to a representative payee and to pay you directly. Make that request in writing and keep a copy.

Social Security will stop making payments to your representative payee if it decides that you are mentally and physically able to manage your benefits in your own interest. You will need to give some evidence to Social Security to show this. The best evidence is a statement from your doctor, but you can use other evidence. Other evidence could be a statement from your social worker or caseworker. If you had a court-appointed guardian and the court has ended the guardianship and restored your rights, the court order is evidence that Social Security will consider in deciding whether you continue to need a payee.

Note of caution: If you become your own payee, that may trigger a Continuing Disability Review. That means Social Security may look at your situation and consider whether you are still disabled. This is because you are saying you are able to handle your own money. In other words, you are saying that you are not so mentally or physically disabled that you need someone to handle your benefits. Before you ask to become your own payee, make sure that you have been receiving treatment or have medical documentation of your disability to help you show that you are still disabled if there is a Continuing Disability Review. 

If a court has said that you need a guardian and appointed a guardian of your estate, that person has the legal authority to make decisions about any money or property you own. The representative payee process is separate from the court guardianship process. Social Security will probably assign your guardian to be your representative payee, but Social Security may decide that another person would be a better payee. Social Security is not required to choose your guardian to be your payee.

If you have a court-appointed guardian, Social Security will not end the representative payment and pay your benefits directly to you unless the court ends the guardianship.

Social Security will expect your payee to report how they spend your benefits. The guardian must make an annual report to the court on how they have used your money and how they have handled all of your other property. If your payee and your guardian are the same person, they will report to both the court and Social Security. This gives you a small layer of extra protection in how your Social Security benefits are used.

In general, if you are getting disability, survivors, or dependent benefits before you turn 18, your parent or legal guardian will be your representative payee. However, in some situations, a teenager under 18 may be their own payee and get their own benefits. Here are the situations where Social Security might pay benefits directly to you if you are not 18 yet:

• You have been emancipated by a court,
• You have a child of your own and you have experience handling your own money,
• You are able to use your benefits for your own needs and there is no one available to be your payee,
• You are at least 17 years and 5 months old and you are just filing an application for benefits,
• You are at least 15 years old, your payee was an institution (not an individual), and the institution has stopped serving as your payee, or
• You are a member of the armed forces.

Sometimes Social Security decides that your benefits should not go to the person who was your representative payee, but it has not appointed a new payee. In that case, Social Security may pay you temporarily, or it may “suspend” or stop your benefits temporarily. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes Social Security a long time to find a new payee and restart your benefits.

Social Security’s policy says that you cannot appeal its decision to suspend your benefits. However, you still have the right to advocate for yourself and talk with the caseworkers and supervisors at the local Social Security office about your benefits.

It is important to know Social Security’s rules about these decisions. Those rules say that, when you are in between representative payees, Social Security will pay your benefits directly to you unless it would cause “substantial harm to you.” This means that Social Security should pay you directly unless:

• Social Security decides that letting you handle your own funds is likely to cause you serious physical or mental injury, and
• This injury would be more harmful than not having the benefits.

Even if Social Security thinks you might not spend your benefits wisely, it should pay you directly until it finds a new representative payee unless this serious injury test is met.

Social Security assumes that paying you directly would cause substantial harm if:

• You have a substance use disorder,
• A court has said you need a guardian, or
• You are under age 15.

But even in these situations, Social Security must allow you to show that you can handle your funds on a short-term basis.

You may need to be insistent and show you know these rules in order to protect your rights in this situation.

Both you and your representative payee are responsible for repaying the overpayment. Social Security can collect an overpayment by keeping part of your benefits going forward. Social Security also can collect the overpayment in other ways. For example, Social Security can take a federal tax refund that is due to you.

However, you can be excused from repaying the overpayment if:

• The overpayment was not your fault, and
• You cannot meet your basic needs if you have to pay it back or have your benefits reduced.

Being excused from repaying is called a “waiver.” This is because Social Security waives or gives up its right to collect from you. If your representative payee caused the overpayment and did not spend the funds on your support and maintenance, that is one example of a situation where the overpayment is not your fault.

You have the right to file an appeal if you do not think there was an overpayment at all. You must file this kind of appeal within 65 days of the date on the notice telling you that you received an overpayment. If the 65 days have passed, do not give up. It is possible that Social Security will find that you had good cause for a late appeal.

You also have the right to ask for a waiver to be excused from repaying the overpayment. There is no deadline for asking for waiver, but asking sooner is better. Learn more about how to handle Social Security overpayments. 

An agent under a Power of Attorney (POA) is not the same thing as a representative payee. Even if you have a representative payee, you might want to have a POA for property. The agent you appoint in your POA and your representative payee can be the same person, or they can be two different people.

Both a representative payee and an agent under a POA can have the authority to pay your bills. However, a representative payee handles only your Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Your payee also deals with Social Security on your behalf. If you have other money, such as a savings account that holds money that is not from Social Security, your representative payee has no authority or right to spend that money.

An agent under a POA has whatever powers you give them. For example, you can give your agent the power to:

• Buy or sell real estate or other property,
• Contribute to or withdraw from a retirement plan,
• Deal with any insurance or annuity policy,
• Handle tax issues,
• Buy and sell stocks, or
• Control safe deposit boxes.

Your representative payee does not have the authority to do those things.

Learn more about POAs for property.

An agent under a Power of Attorney (POA) is not the same thing as a representative payee. Even if you have a POA agent for property, Social Security may still require you to have a representative payee. If Social Security thinks you need a representative payee, they will consider your choice of POA agent. But, they won’t necessarily choose that person as your payee.

If you do not need a representative payee now, you might want to make an “advance designation of representative payee.” This tells Social Security who you would like to be your payee if you need a representative payee in the future. Learn more about choosing your payee in advance on the Social Security website.