The Role of a Social Security Representative Payee

You’ve probably heard of a health care surrogate (an adult who is appointed to make healthcare decisions for you when you become unable to make them for yourself), but what about a Social Security representative payee? This is a person assigned to help you manage your monthly benefits. The Social Security Administration will appoint one if it receives information indicating that you need help managing your finances. The agency will try to select someone who knows you and wants to help you. However, you can be proactive and pick your own representative payee. Social Security’s Advance Designation enables you to identify up to three people, in priority order, whom you would like to serve as your potential representative payee if/when you need helping managing your money. You can change your Advance Designation(s), including the priority order, at any time while you are still capable of making your own decisions. It is recommended that you choose a trusted friend or family member as your representative payee.

The Seniors Trust strives to empower Social Security recipients. It is working to convince Congress to enact the Social Security Expansion Act which would provide seniors with bigger Social Security benefits, a fairer cost-of-living adjustment, and long-term solvency for the Social Security program. All this will provide retirees with the peace of mind of knowing that they will be taken care of financially by the system they supported throughout their working years.