When a Social Security recipient dies, the payment for that month cannot be paid, and the deposit that shows up the next month has to go back. Social Security checks arrive a month behind, so the money landing in the account after a death is often the payment for the month the person died. Families who spend it can end up being asked to repay it.

The rule is spelled out on USAGov’s page for reporting a death, which says the Social Security Administration cannot pay benefits for the month of a recipient’s death. The agency’s own survivors publication says the same thing in plainer terms.

Why the deposit that arrives next month is not the family’s to keep

Social Security pays benefits in the month after they are due. A payment received in August is the benefit for July. USAGov gives that exact example: if someone died in July, the check or direct deposit received in August, which is the payment for July, must be returned.

The reason sits in the regulations. Under 20 CFR 404.311, a person’s entitlement to old-age benefits ends with the month before the month of death. The person was alive for part of July, but no benefit is owed for the month in which death occurs.

That is a different question from what survivors may receive. The Social Security Administration’s publication on what to do when a family member dies says eligible family members may be able to receive survivors benefits for the month the beneficiary died. The dead person’s own payment goes back, and the survivors benefit is a separate claim.

Anyone who shares a bank account with a Social Security recipient, or who handles a parent’s or spouse’s money, should treat the first deposit after a death as money on hold. Do not spend it, do not move it, and do not assume the bank knows. The next step is to tell the bank and the agency, in that order of urgency.

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What to do with a deposit or a paper check

For direct deposit, USAGov says to notify the financial institution as soon as possible and ask it to return the payment for the month of death and any payments that arrive later. The Social Security publication gives the same instruction and says the bank is the party to contact.

Paper checks are simpler. The publication says not to cash a check that arrives after a death and to return it to Social Security as soon as possible. Returning the benefits received for the month of death and any later months is required, according to the agency, not optional.

Later months matter too. If a death goes unreported for a while, each additional deposit is also money that must go back. A family that finds several months of deposits can ask the bank to return all of them, not just the first one.

Who tells Social Security, and how

A funeral director usually reports the death. Social Security’s publication asks families to give the funeral director the deceased’s Social Security number because they usually report the death to the agency. The survivors page also says a funeral home will usually tell Social Security when someone dies.

When no funeral home is involved, the family has to do it. USAGov says Social Security accepts death reports only by phone or in person, not by email or online form. The agency’s national number is 1-800-772-1213, with a TTY line at 1-800-325-0778. A report can be started without the death certificate, though the certificate is needed later to complete it.

Social Security and Medicare are handled in the same report, and USAGov’s list of who to notify also covers the IRS, banks, credit bureaus, veterans benefits and state programs. Most of them want the Social Security number and certified copies of the death certificate.

What survivors can claim after the first week

The Social Security publication urges families to make contact as soon as they can, so the family gets all the benefits it is entitled to. The month-of-death rule applies either way, and a spouse or child counting on survivors benefits to replace household income has every reason to call early.

A surviving spouse who was living with the person may receive a one-time lump sum of $255, the publication says. If there is no surviving spouse, an eligible child may get it. Monthly survivors benefits go to spouses age 60 or older, or 50 and older with a disability, and to spouses of any age who care for an eligible child.

Children under 18 can qualify, and so can some stepchildren, grandchildren, dependent parents age 62 or older and divorced spouses. Social Security’s survivors benefits page lists the spouse, divorced spouse, child and dependent parent groups, and says survivors may also gain Medicare eligibility through the deceased family member’s work record.

The agency suggests calling early in the day, between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time, or later in the day, and says the lines are less busy Wednesday through Friday and later in the month. Automated phone services run around the clock.

A Social Security deposit arrived after a spouse died?

The risk is quiet. The deposit looks like any other, the account balance looks higher, and the bills of a hard month are right there. Spending the payment for the month of death means repaying it later, often when the surviving spouse is also sorting out the funeral, the bank and the survivors claim.

The Social Security Check Protection Kit includes a first-week checklist for when a spouse dies, including not spending the payment for the month of death. Part 7 of the kit covers taxes, spouses and survivors, so the return of the deposit and the survivor steps that follow are laid out together.

Get the first-week checklist for a spouse’s death and the month-of-death payment →

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• The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.