I Have A Couple Of Social Security Questions. Would Somebody PLEASE Help Me With Getting Answers?

Question

1.) If a family member had been receiving SS disability benefits for a several years, and suddenly died... how would those benefits stop coming in? Would they stop automatically, or would a family member need to report the death to the SSA?

2.) How and can I obtain a report online on a family member by using their SSN and last name? I need to find out if there has been any sort of SSN activity since their death 5 yrs. ago. There SSN is listed as "active" and the SSA is not aware this family member is deceased.

I am suspecting SS fraud by a another family member who has the same name as my deceased family member. They may be receiving the disabilty benefits checks off of our deceased family member due to the same name would be on the checks, and they could cash or deposit them easily. However, I would like to have proof of this before reporting or calling the SS fraud hotline. This is just my suspicion.

Answer 1

1. The death must be reported for the payments to stop.  The social security administration has no crystal ball to determine that someone is dead if they are not told.

2. Most social security payments occur by direct deposit, not check.

3. Simply report to the social security administration that the person died, and be sure to include the date of death.  If they notice that checks for months after the reported date of death have been cashed, and begin the appropriate fraud investigation, your problem is solved, without a call to the fraud hotline.  If they find that the checks for the months after the reported date of death were not cashed, they can update their records and will not need to start a fraud investigation.

Answer 2

If you suspect someone of social security fraud they usualy have a tip line where you can report it.  You can even do this anominously.

Give them a call and the details and they will do their own investigation.  If you start nosing around then the family member may stop and there's nothing left.  

The SSN benefits do not stop automatically you do have to tell them and not telling them is fraud.

You're doing the right thing

Answer 3

You answered your own question.

When someone dies it is always a good idea to notify the SSA.  The SSA often, but not always, gets the data from the county.

Call or write the SSA and give them the name, SSN and date of death.  You do not need to call the fraud line.  The regular line will do.  If in fact benefits were still being paid, let it hit the fan.  *YOU* don't need to know whether or not this is happening before reporting the death.  (However, if you hesitate to report it just in case it might get a family member in trouble, then need to ask yourself why you'd let someone rip off the rest of us.)

Answer 4

Tell them that you saw that the SSN was active and that particular person with that particular SSN is dead.

Just tell them you noticed an inconsistency.  They'll check for you (they loooooove paperwork!)  If there's fraud, they'll get the wheels in motion.  If it's just an inconsistency, they'll list the SSN as deceased.

It's not a crime to report an inconsistency.  Tell them what you know, let them investigate, and then they'll draw their own conclusions.  

Answer 5

You can't find out, the info is confidential.  But it sounds like your suspicions are well founded.  Call the ss office and tell them what you said here.