Full question: Hi Martha, I’m the Personal Representative of a friend who died December 9 2025. SSA clawed back her net payment in December (Part B and D were deducted on Dec 1). My understanding is SSA pays a month in arrears and a person is entitled to a benefit if they lived the full month, so I believe my friend is entitled to her November benefit that is paid in December. However, she died before she received the Nov benefit in Dec (she received her SSA payments the 4th Wed of each month). Is the fact that she died in Dec before the Nov payment was distributed why SSA clawed that payment back? I’ve looked in the POMS manual and the closest I could find to an answer was RS 00201.002 A, but it didn’t address the die-before-the-payment-is-made situation. Thank you

Hi there,

Because her payment date was the 4th Wednesday, the November benefit would normally have been paid December 24, 2025. Since she died December 9, SSA’s automated death match likely stopped the upcoming payment, or allowed Treasury to reclaim it if pre-released. This is consistent with SSA payment integrity procedures.

The bottom line is that she is entitled to the November benefit, her death before the December payment date does NOT eliminate her entitlement, the clawback is almost certainly an administrative hold pending underpayment processing, and you are likely to recover the payment if no higher-priority survivor exists, such as a spouse or children.

As her Personal representative, you should reach out to the local SSA office regarding “a deceased beneficiary and a potential underpayment.” From there you can describe the details to SSA needed to resolve the underpayment.

Good luck,
Martha

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