The way I read the original question was that the deceased had not yet been paid the the underpayment due the deceased based on the deceased's entitlement to SSDI benefits. The guy died before his benefits could be paid to HIM (or her, as the case may be). The spouse who lived with the deceased at the time of the deceased's death is the first person who is eligible to be paid the underpayment due the deceased for SSDI.

In re-reading the question, I now realize that the question may not have meant what I originally thought. Was the original poster referring to the underpayment due the deceased, or ongoing survivor benefits?

My answer had nothing to do with receipt of survivor benefits. A father's obligation to pay child support does not then become the responsibility of the child who receives survivor benefits. The father's debt will not be garnished from the child.

I was asking what happens to the SSI money should the deceased die before collecting. He was basically penniless and I don't know how SSI works. Does the approved have to wait the 6 month waiting period before being eligiable for SSI? He more than likely didn't pay taxes on his unemployment so I guess the SSI money doesn't go towards that or child support but does the survivor get it or no one gets it?

There is a thread on this site called Don't start your claim unprepared. There is a poster called Kallixenia who is a SS examiner. I would ask that poster. From my experience I had one survivor case that went to the Federal level, they found that you are entitled to benefits if you are found to be a widow and have children under the age of 18, ex-spouses under certain rules. In that case, the claimant filed 2 years after her spouse had died and was only entitled to 6 months back pay. SSI is for the individual, and dies with the individual. So chances are the children are not entitled to back child support from SSI. Tell your friend to apply right away.
There could be a rule I'm not aware of.

Thanks for clarifying. I did read it right except in the first post you said SSDI and in this one you said SSI. That one letter D makes a big difference in the answer.

So he got a favorable decision and then died before the money was paid

The link I gave shows the priority of paying an SSDI underpayment due a deceased. Spouse living with is first. Then an entitled child. The estate is last on the list if there is no one of higher priority and the estate may have to pay legal debt which may include the child support or the IRS. I am not
sure of that.

The five month waiting period still applies for SSDI, but that should have been over sometime in the past.

If this is an SSI question, I have a different answer.

I believe that Kallixenia is a disability analyst, not a claims representative so her expertise is on determining whether or not a person is disabled, not who can get survivor benefits or payment of an underpayment due a deceased. That is done in the field office and payment center by claims representatives and claims authorizers.

And yes, there are limits on the retroactivity of survivor and auxilliary claims. But the original question was about underpayment due a deceased.

Yes,the social workers at the hospital helped hurry up things. He was wondering why it took my case so long to be approved and his was basically overnight. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in early December and was awarded SSDI benefits shortly afterwards. His son is scheduled to receive first payment in June. Don't think the deceased had an estate. He was living with his mom at the time of death. Is someone responsible for doing a deceased person's tax return or do they let it pass? It looks like he got his unemployment checks tax free. Still not sure if his ex-wife is entitled to survivor benefits.

So let me get this straight the guy with stage 4 cancer is the one you were inquiring about? That would put him in dire need and that is why he got his benefits so quickly. If his ex- wife has custody of his child who is 16 and under then she can collect benefits but, she has to file. If she is 60 or older and not remarried or over 50-59 and disabled then she is entitled to his benefits. I don't understand why his ex- wife wasn't collecting child support and had his paychecks garnished. Taxes are never over looked, they will send a bill if he owes anything. There are so many rules Babyboomer that if I were you I would have your friend call SS and make sure she is entitled in her state. The link below may help. Make sure you click on the blue links as they explain it in detail.

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answ...o%20pay%20back

Here is a little info on taxes and decedents.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p554.pdf

Decedents compensation for services, interest, dividends, rents, royalties,
income from partnerships, estate or trust income,
A personal representative of a decedent’s estate can be an gain from sales or exchanges of property, and business
executor, administrator, or anyone who is in charge of the income of all kinds.
decedent’s property. Under special provisions of the law, certain items are
If you are acting as the personal representative of a partially or fully exempt from tax. Provisions that are of
person who died during the year, you may have to file a special interest to older taxpayers are discussed in this
final return for that decedent. You also have other duties, chapter.
such as notifying the IRS that you are acting as the personal
representative. Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary
Relationship, is available for this purpose. Compensation for Services
When you file a return for the decedent, either as the
personal representative or as the surviving spouse, you Generally, you must include in gross income everything
should write “DECEASED,” the decedent’s name, and the you receive in payment for personal services. In addition to
date of death across the top of the tax return. wages, salaries, commissions, fees, and tips, this includes
If no personal representative has been appointed by the other forms of compensation such as fringe benefits and
due date for filing the return, the surviving spouse (on a stock options.
joint return) should sign the return and write in the signa- You need not receive the compensation in cash for it to
ture area “Filing as surviving spouse.” be taxable. Payments you receive in the form of goods or
For more information, see Publication 559, Survivors, services generally must be included in gross income at
Executors, and Administrators. their fair market value.
Surviving spouse. If you are the surviving spouse, the Volunteer work. Do not include in your gross income
year your spouse died is the last year for which you can file amounts you receive for supportive services or reimbursea
joint return with that spouse. After that, if you do not ments for out-of-pocket expenses under any of the followremarry,
you must file as a qualifying widow(er) with de- ing volunteer programs.
pendent child, head of household, or single. For more · Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
information about each of these filing statuses, see Publi-
cation 501. · Foster Grandparent Program.
If you remarry before the end of the year in which your · Senior Companion Program.
spouse died, a final joint return with the deceased spouse cannot be filed. You can, however, file a joint return with · Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).
your new spouse. In that case, the filing status of your
deceased spouse for his or her final return is married filing Unemployment compensation. For 2009, you must inseparately.
clude in income all unemployment compensation you reThe
level of income that requires you to file an ceived that is more than $2,400. If married filing jointly,
income tax return changes when your filing status include any unemployment compensation received by
CAUTION changes (see Table 1-1). Even if you and your your spouse that is more than $2,400.
!
deceased spouse were not required to file a return for More information. See Publication 525, Taxable and
several years, you may have to file a return for tax years Nontaxable Income, for more detailed information on speafter
the year of death. For example, if your filing status cific types of income.
changes from filing jointly in 2008 to single in 2009 because
of the death of your spouse, and your gross income
Page 6 Chapter 2 Taxable and Nontaxable Income

Yep- I told him he was awarded so quickly because he had a dire need case.

If there is an underpayment due after the waiting period that was never paid to your friend, then whoever is payee for the child can apply for the underpayment to be paid to the payee on behalf of the child. The form is an SSA-1724.