Opinion ID: 2994227
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The SSA’s Use of Representative Payments

Text: The Social Security Act provides that since there are beneficiaries who are unable to direct the management of their own affairs, including their finances, the SSA may make payment of their benefits to a representative payee. See 42 U.S.C. sec.sec. 405(j)(1)(A) & 1383(a)(2)(A)(ii)(I). The SSA’s operating procedures require that it exercise extreme care in selecting representative payees. See Social Security Program Operations Manual System (POMS) sec. GN 00501.005(C). Furthermore, in order to protect the funds of the beneficiaries against misuse by their representative payees, the Social Security Act provides that if the SSA is negligent in its selection of a representative payee, and that negligence results in misuse of the beneficiary’s benefits, then the SSA is obligated to reimburse the beneficiary for the misused funds./2 On the other hand, if the SSA is not negligent in selecting a beneficiary’s payee, but the payee, nevertheless, misuses the beneficiary’s benefits, then the beneficiary must collect the misused payments from the representative payee directly. See 20 C.F.R. sec. 416.641.