When Mom passed away a few weeks ago the funeral home contacted Social Security for us immediately. Soon after death a SS payment was deposited into Mom's account and then promptly removed. This makes sense to me.
When on the phone today chatting with the funeral home they told me that they contacted SS for us but that I, as the executor, should contact SS myself to close out any loose ends that might be out there with Mom. I called just a bit ago and I was told to fill out Form 1724 and I was directed on the phone to the actual form online. After hanging up and reviewing the form, it almost seems like I need not fill it out. My brother and I are no longer dependents of Mom's and haven't been for many years, there is no surviving spouse or disabled dependents, etc.
Does this form have to be filled out? Since the person on the phone at SS didn't ask me questions about my being a dependent or not I am wondering if this form is something they tell everyone to fill out just in case you are owed anything. Please share any info you might have. Thank you-
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Social Security is very prompt to say the least to yank funds out of an account the second someone passes away. I wasn't aware of this when my dad died. Within a day or so of his death we realized that his Social Security was probably sitting in his account. My dad died in the middle of the month and we naively thought that we could use that money towards his funeral expenses. When I checked his account it was gone. It had been deposited, I could see that, but then it was snatched out of the account probably as he took his last breath.
It was never suggested to us that we had to fill out paperwork or a form of any kind. His Discover card gave me more of a hassle than the Social Security Administration did. I do know that the SSA will reimburse people IF they are owed money and they are really good about keeping track of that. If your mom is owed anything by the SSA you'd know. Some years ago I was on SS/Disability. My check was deposited every month and then one month I received a credit in my account for $12,000. There had been some kind of error in my payments that wasn't caught for a few years and that money showed up in my account out of the blue. No letter, no notice, nothing. I called the SSA and they explained it to me. I never would have known I was owed that money.
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