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Has any other caretaker/daughter received a letter from the US Office of Personnel Management with a form that needs to be filled out and notarized? It wants verification of annuitant info regarding my mom's monthly annuity benefits. AND I will need to fill out a Representative Payee form, submit a voided check, give my ID and, I'm not sure but I think her doctor has to fill out a competency form IF I apply to be the Representative Payee. I asked why would I need to jump through so many hoops to fill it out when everything's working fine. The answer I received was "a Representative Payee is recommended because OPM does not recognize POAs." WHY WOULD OPM NEED TO RECOGNIZE ME? Has anyone else received this intrusive form and if so, do you advise filling out the Competency / Representative Payee info?Thank you.

I'm a retired federal employee and I get both a federal pension and Social Security. DECADES ago retired federal employees were only getting a federal pension because they did pay into SS. The old retirement system was replaced in the 80s (I think) and my federal pension is a combination of the old and new systems. The new system has people paying into SS as well as the federal pension program.
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Reply to vegaslady
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I am glad u got it all sorted out.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Hi AlvaDeer,
After lots of research, I found: Since My mom put my name on all her checking accounts as co-owner I don't have to worry about jumping through hoops to apply to be the representative payee.
Thanks for your help!
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Reply to TakeFoxAway
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This annuity, the OP mentions, is a Government Pension. POAs are not recognized by Government entities. Government employees do not get Social Security, they get a pension. This pension pretty much follows Social Security guidelines. SS gets a raise, the annuity gets a raise. They send out a yearly statement like SS and a 1099 like SS. Like SS you can become a payee.

Until the OP answers my questions, we won't know what is going on. IMO she has triggered something to be getting this info. They just don't send things out willy nilly. Until OP explains what the paperwork says, we have no idea what is going on.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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TakeFoxAway Jan 28, 2025
They said it was a standard mailing. But who knows. Maybe they had to check if she's still alive because she's turning 105. (to counter fraud).
Anyway, thanks for explaining it further... it makes sense now; my dad worked for the government, and though they referred to my mother as the annuitant, it was not an annuity. It is my dad's pension. I didn't realize government employees don't get ss. They get pensions.
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When I was activating my FPoA in order to manage my Aunt's annuity I had to jump through such hoops: submit PoA documents, send copy of my ID, get things notarized, fill out an affidavit). I didn't have to do as much when submitting to her bank.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Is this a pension? Did you request to be Moms payee? Did you send them your POA?

My sister, government employee, is deceased and her disabled son gets her pension (annuity). I am payee. Before me was my Mom. When she could no longer perform her duties, I wrote requesting that I be made payee. I just looked at my files and I had filled out a form and attached a letter from her PCP. Nothing needed to be notarized. This was done in 2017.

I haven't got a letter in ages but I have occasionally received where they ask if the annuity is being used for nephew and how. I just fill it out and send it back. Have never needed a notary.

Is Mom able to handle her own finances? If so, then the POA is not invoked and Mom does not need a payee. My question would be, if you did not request being her payee, why did they send you this info? That would be my question to them.

With a payee, a separate acct is to be set up for just that payment which is directly deposited. Thats why the need for a blank voided check for the deposit. Is Moms payment now in a check or direct deposit?

Its really hard trying to explain all this without being able to see what you were sent.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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TakeFoxAway Jan 28, 2025
Very good question: Did I request to be my mom's payee? I will ask them if I did that. I may have and don't remember.

I learned that I don't have to be concerned with becoming her representative via OPM because my mom had the foresight to make me co-owner on all her accounts.

I filled out the form to verify that she's still alive, took a picture with her with a newspaper from yesterday, copied her ID and went to a notary where she signed it in front of him. All taken care of. Thank you
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ARE you the representative payee?
ARE you in charge of POA and acting in all executive functioning for your mother?
Yes, it is my opinion that you should become the Rep Payee and should fill in these forms.
And do know that your POA is not accepted by Social Security and many other entities as well. Sadly. It makes attempting to function for a failing parent quite the nightmare in setting things up with everyone wanting a different document and different proofs. I well remember first year acting as POA/Trustee for my brother. Once everything was set up it all went relatively smoothly, but the setup was awful, and had my brother, diagnosed with probable early Lewy's Dementia, not been able to converse with these entities it would have been worse than it was.

Best of luck.
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