Articles Tagged with “representative payees” and “oversight”

New federal legislation will increase oversight of representative payees who manage Social Security disability payments made to beneficiaries. In most cases, Social Security disability payments are handled by the beneficiary himself or herself. However, in some cases, beneficiaries may be incapable of handling their own financial decisions. In such cases, a representative payee manages payments on behalf of the beneficiary.

Representative payee are expected to handle opening and maintaining bank accounts, receiving and maintaining the Social Security disability claim payouts, and coordinating with the beneficiary and loved ones in order to ensure that the funds are used exclusively for the beneficiary’s benefit.

However, there are instances where representative payees abuse these privileges and misuse funds. This may occur partially because of the minimal oversight over the representative payee’s allocation of the funds.