My father passed in June 7, 2016, his SS came in on June 16, 2016. We had already withdrew a portion of it and found out about a month or two later, when we went to withdraw the remaining portion that the the SS department put a hold on his funds. I have written letters and made numerous calls to the SS and the bank. They keep blaming each other. I now went to SS and they swear they cannot put holds and that the bank must release the funds. The bank swears they cannot release the funds until the hold is removed. This is now an almost two year battle. Can someone help me?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Here's the deal. The payment that came on June 16th was apparently your father's Social Security payment for May. Since he lived throughout May, that payment would be due. However, since it was delivered after his death the bank would have to return the funds to the US Treasury department.

In order to claim the underpayment someone needs to submit a written request for the underpayment on a form SSA-1724. As his daughter, you are authorized to submit the form. There is a specific priority order for payment of a Social Security underpayment, which is explained on Social Security's website: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-1724.html.

Best, Jerry