The short answer
Social Security can't pay for the month a person dies. So a payment that arrives after the death usually goes back, and the Treasury takes it from the bank.
You usually don't owe anything from your own money. The exceptions are if you shared the account, were your parent's representative payee, or received money that later had to be repaid. Money Social Security still owed your parent can be claimed, though a grown child ranks low.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Leave any deposit made after the death in the account.
- Ask the bank whether a reclamation came through, and for how much.
- Ask Social Security what you owe, if you shared the account or were the payee.
- Check the date of death on Social Security's record.
- Ask Social Security how to claim any money your parent was still owed.
- Keep every letter from Social Security and the bank.
What can wait
- Arguing about a small overpayment, until you know who it is owed by. If a letter gives a date to reply by, that date comes first.
Who can help
Social Security can explain a letter, check its record and send form SSA-1724. Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778); the number is also on the Who to call page.
Your parent's bank can tell you what was reclaimed and when. You can ask for the person or team there that handles the accounts of people who have died.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’, courts’ and organizations’ own pages in October 2026. Where a rule differs by state, the book names one state as an example. Check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 3: Their Money
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 1. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 1 to 12 after the death.
Questions near this one
Other questions on related subjects, from this book and the others.
- Who tells Social Security and the other offices? Book 1, The First Month
- What do I tell creditors, and am I responsible for the debts? Book 2, Being in Charge
- Who do I call, and in what order? Book 1, The First Month
- What happens to their pension or annuity? Book 3, Their Money
Hear when Their Money is out
A short note when each book is out. Five or six emails a year at most. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.