The first thing you should do is report the death to the US Social Security Administration (SSA), which is the agency responsible for processing death reports for Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries. Not reporting the death of a person and continuing to use the benefits that person received is considered fraud.
Data you need to report in the event of a death of a beneficiary:
- Provide the deceased person’s Social Security number to the funeral director where the funeral services are being held, so they can report the death to the SSA.
- Or, contact your social security office to report or call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to make the report.
What to do with the last check received?
- SSA cannot pay benefits for the month in which a recipient died. That means that if the person died in July, he must return the check received in August (which corresponds to the July payment).
- If the payment was made by direct deposit to a bank account, notify the financial institution as soon as possible so that payments received after death can be returned.
- In some cases, family members may be eligible for benefits when a person dies. To find out details about when this specific situation occurs, visit the SSA Survivor Benefits page for more information.