Who tells Social Security when someone dies?

How does a family report a death to Social Security?

A family starts by finding out whether the funeral home has already told Social Security, and then reads the agency's own page for the way to report a death. The steps below follow that order, one action each, so they fit on a phone screen.

The June's Help Social Security checklist

1. Find the person's Social Security number on a tax paper, a statement or a card, and keep it where only the family can reach it.
2. Ask the funeral home whether it has told Social Security about the death. Write down the answer and the date.
3. On a phone, open the Social Security Administration's page on what to do when someone dies and read it from the top.
4. Open the USAGov page on reporting the death of a Social Security or Medicare beneficiary. It says how else a death can be reported.
5. Put what the pages say to give on one note, so the call or visit is not made from memory.
6. After the report, write the date, how it was made, the name of the person who helped and any reference number.
7. When a letter from Social Security arrives, photograph it and add it to June's Help.
8. Tick the step done in the plan, so the rest of the family can see it.

• Social Security Administration What to do when someone dies The agency's own page on what to do when someone dies and how a death is reported., official page, opens in a new tab
• USAGov Report the death of a Social Security or Medicare beneficiary USAGov's page on reporting the death of someone who received Social Security or Medicare., official page, opens in a new tab

See also: Who to notify when someone dies: the full list, Do you tell Medicare when someone dies?

Who notifies Social Security of a death?

That differs from one family to the next, and the Social Security pages are the place that say. USAGov's page says what a funeral director does and what to give one, so the funeral home is the first office to ask.

If the funeral home says it has not, or the family is not sure, the pages above describe how else a death can be reported. The office that answers decides what it needs. This page does not say who reports, and it does not repeat what the agency asks for.

See also: How do I order certified death certificates in Texas?

What should be written down before the call or visit?

The Social Security page says what to give when calling, so the family reads that first and builds one note from it. A note on a phone works as well as paper, and a second family member can read the same note.

During the call, keep these lines open on the note:

• The date and the time of the call or visit.
• The name of the person who helped.
• What was said, and what happens next.
• A reference number, if one was given.
• Whether Social Security will confirm in writing.

Who else is told separately?

Banks, insurers, employers and the credit bureaus are told separately, so the family keeps a separate list for them. USAGov publishes a list of agencies and businesses to notify, and it is a good checklist to work down.

Medicare and the credit bureaus have their own short guides. Neither guide repeats what an office asks for.

See also: Do you tell Medicare when someone dies?, How do I tell the credit bureaus someone died?

How can a family keep track of who has been told?

One shared list does it, with the date and the name of the person who helped next to each office. June's Help keeps a list of who has been told, with a kind for Social Security, and with the assistant plan it can email a reminder to check back when a notice the family marked as sent has had no reply for two weeks. Ask the funeral home before sending Social Security a letter from June's Help. The family does the telling, and June does not send a letter or make a call.

With the assistant plan, a due date that a letter prints also gets a reminder email, three days before unless the person who signed up picks other days, and a weekly check-in email lists the next due dates. The person who signed up can invite a relative who lives in Texas to a family seat, an extra on top of the assistant plan, to read the letters June has read.

See also: Who to notify when someone dies: the full list

What does June's Help do with a letter from Social Security?

June reads your letters in plain words. For a letter from Social Security, the reading names the sender, quotes the letter's own lines, shows the dates printed on it, says what it asks and suggests questions to ask the sender. It also links the official pages that go with it.

A Social Security overpayment letter is a kind June does not explain. It shows the sender and the dates printed on it, with the label For the office that sent it. Each reading comes from an AI, and the person who signed up can check the quotes and dates against the original photo.

See also: How to keep track of the dates on estate letters