[Title 20 CFR S] [Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - April 1, 1996 Edition] [Title 20 - EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS] [Chapter III - SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION] [Part 404 - FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950- )] [Subpart S - Payment Procedures] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]20 EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS 2 1996-04-01 1996-04-01 false Payment Procedures S Subpart S EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950- ) Subpart S--Payment Procedures Sec. 404.1800 Introduction. After we have made a determination or decision that you are entitled to benefits under title II of the Act, we begin paying those benefits to you as soon as possible. This subpart explains-- (a) What we must do so that your benefits begin promptly; (b) When and how you may request that payment of benefits be expedited; (c) When we may cause your benefits to be withheld; (d) Our obligation not to assign or transfer your benefits to someone; and (e) When we will use one check to pay benefits to two or more persons in a family. Sec. 404.1805 Paying benefits. (a) As soon as possible after we have made a determination or decision that you are entitled to benefits, we certify to the Secretary of the Treasury, who is the Managing Trustee of the Trust Funds-- (1) Your name and address, or the name and address of the person to be paid if someone receives your benefits on your behalf as a representative payee; (2) The amount of the payment or payments to be made from the appropriate Trust Fund; and (3) The time at which the payment or payments should be made. (b) Under certain circumstances when you have had railroad employment, we will certify the information to the Railroad Retirement Board. Sec. 404.1810 Expediting benefit payments. (a) General. We have established special procedures to expedite the payment of benefits in certain initial and subsequent claims. This section tells how you may request an expedited payment and when we will be able to hasten your payments by means of this process. (b) Applicability of section. (1) This section applies to monthly benefits payable under title II of the Act, except as indicated in paragraph (b)(2) of this section; and to those cases where we certify information to the Railroad Retirement Board. (2) This section does not apply-- (i) If an initial determination has been made and a request for a reconsideration, a hearing, a review by the Appeals Council, or review by a Federal [[Page 491]] court is pending on any issue of entitlement to or payment of a benefit; (ii) To any benefit for which a check has been cashed; or (iii) To any benefit based on an alleged disability. (c) Request for payment. (1) You shall submit to us a written request for payment of benefits in accordance with paragraph (c)(2) or (c)(3) of this section. Paragraph (c)(2) of this section applies if you were receiving payments regularly and you then fail to receive payment for one or more months. Paragraph (c)(3) of this section applies if we have not made a determination about your entitlement to benefits, or if we have suspended or withheld payment due, for example, to excess earnings or recovery of an overpayment. (2) If you received a regular monthly benefit in the month before the month in which a payment was allegedly due, you may make a written request for payment any time 30 days after the 15th day of the month in which the payment was allegedly due. If you request is made before the end of the 30-day period, we will consider it to have been made at the end of the period. (3)(i) If you did not receive a regular monthly benefit in the month before the month in which a payment was allegedly due, you may make a written request for payment any time 90 days after the later of-- (A) The date on which the benefit is alleged to have been due; or (B) The date on which you furnished us the last information we requested from you. (ii) If your request is made before the end of the 90-day period we will consider it to have been made at the end of the period. (d) Certification for payment. If we find that benefits are due, we shall certify the benefits for payment in sufficient time to permit the payment to be made within 15 days after the request for expedited payment is made, or considered to have been made, as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. (e) Preliminary certification for payment. If we determine that there is evidence, although additional evidence may be required for a final decision, that a monthly benefit due to you in a particular month was not paid, we may make preliminary certification of payment even though the 30-day or 90-day periods described in paragraph (c) of this section have not elapsed. Sec. 404.1815 Withholding certification or payments. (a) When certification may be withheld. After a determination or decision, we may withhold certification to the Managing Trustee, or, if we have already made certification, we may notify the Managing Trustee to withhold payments. We may do this if a question about the validity of the payment or payments to be made under the determination or decision arises as the result of one of the following events: (1) A reconsideration (whether at the request of a claimant or on our own motion), hearing, or review is being conducted, or a civil action has been filed in a Federal district court concerning the determination or decision. (2) An application or request is pending concerning the payment of benefits or a lump sum to another person, and the application or request is inconsistent, in whole or in part, with the payment or payments under the determination or decision. (b) When certification will not be withheld. We will not withhold certification or payment as explained in paragraph (a) of this section unless evidence is submitted with the request or application that is sufficient to raise a reasonable question about the validity of the payment or payments under the determination or decision. We will not withhold certification of any amount of the payment or payments not in question. Your acceptance of any payment or payments will not affect your right to reconsideration, hearing, or review about any additional payment or payments you may claim. Sec. 404.1820 Transfer or assignment of payments. (a) General. We shall not certify payment to-- (1) Any person designated as your assignee or transferee; or (2) Any person claiming payment because of an execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, or because of any bankruptcy or [[Page 492]] insolvency proceeding against or affecting you. (b) Enforcement of a child support or alimony obligation. If you have a legal obligation to provide child support or make alimony payments and legal process is issued to enforce this obligation, the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section do not apply. Sec. 404.1825 Joint payments to a family. (a) Two or more beneficiaries in same family. If an amount is payable under title II of the Act for any month to two or more persons who are members of the same family, we may certify any two or more of the individuals for joint payment of the total benefits payable to them for the month. (b) Joint payee dies before cashing a check. (1) If a check has been issued for joint payment to an individual and spouse residing in the same household, and one of the joint payees dies before the check has been cashed, we may authorize the surviving payee to cash the check. We make the authorization by placing on the face of the check a stamped legend signed by an official of the Social Security Administration or the Treasury Disbursing Office redesignating the survivor as the payee of the check. (2) If the uncashed check represents benefits for a month after the month of death, we will not authorize the surviving payee to cash the check unless the proceeds of the check are necessary to meet the ordinary and necessary living expenses of the surviving payee. (c) Adjustment or recovery of overpayment. If a check representing payment of benefits to an individual and spouse residing in the same household is cashed by the surviving payee under the authorization in paragraph (b) of this section, and the amount of the check exceeds the amount to which the surviving payee is entitled, we shall make appropriate adjustment or recovery of the excess amount.