Social Security docs for deceased family member

[SensibleandHourly]

Good afternoon, Community, 

I have a client who has been unable to obtain the necessary documents from Social Security for her deceased father. 

Maybe this is just a Covid 'thing', but I'm curious if anyone run into this before? And if you have any suggestions.

Thank you, 

Dawn 

[qbteachmt]

What are "the necessary documents" you seek?

[SensibleandHourly]

His end of year SSA statement. Is there anything additional? 

[qbteachmt · Accepted solution]

There's usually a Mailed copy, so who was the forwarded address for that person?

What about banking? SS is often a direct deposit function. And even then, the amount doesn't change other than the COLA, which is only once. You should be able to reconstruct the year from the bank statements, assuming you also know their Medicare cost. Who has those statements or that access? A proof of survivor can be provided to the bank; I had to get nearly 2 years of statements, for a client.

And there would be an online account, if one was established. As long as you have their password, of course. That's what I use when wrapping up a person's life = log into all email and online accounts to close out, cancel, delete, etc.

[SensibleandHourly]

Thank you! That was my plan B, and I am glad to know it is an acceptable approach. 

The other unusual, or perhaps not so unusual, piece of this situation is that there is a surviving spouse but she has dementia. My client has personal representative status for the widow, her mother. I'm in the process of clarifying if she has personal rep status for her father. But, regardless, wouldn't personal rep be adequate to file as if Mom was filing? 

Thank you for responding, 

Dawn

[qbteachmt]

I edited my reply to remove POA; once you are dead, there is no POA for you.

Someone is "getting the mail" and that's where I start. Someone is the beneficiary, someone is a surviving heir, someone has to notify SS that the person has died, to stop the payments. Someone had access to the banking, or at least, to the banker.

"But, regardless, wouldn't personal rep be adequate to file as if Mom was filing?"

Is this a different question? I thought the question had to do with a deceased person.

"Personal Representative" means different things. POA, guardianship, executor, etc, all mean different things.

[qbteachmt]

I forgot to mention, you can get their IRS transcript to see what was reported on their behalf.