Larry I need help.
I converted from spousal benefits at 69 then my issue starts I changed my mind, went to the local office where they tried to talk me out of withdrawing my application. SSA sent me a letter saying I had to send them the 2 month old benefits I had received. I sent a check for $5511 to cover Benefits and Medicare premiums December 6 2019. I have called them 4 times they have not cashed my check. I need this taken care of so I can apply for spousal benefits starting in September 2019. What can I do?

Hi,

Once a claim is processed it requires a significant amount of work by someone at Social Security (SSA) to undo that and put things back the way they were if the person subsequently withdraws. Those actions must be done at one of Social Security's payment centers, and they always have substantial backlogs. Hence, there's probably not much you can do to speed things up. You could try contacting the offices of one of your congressional representatives, but outside of that about the only thing you can do is continue following up with your local SSA office.

If you were drawing spousal benefits up until you applied for your Social Security retirement benefits and your spousal benefits were terminated as a result, then I don't believe that you'd need to reapply for spousal benefits. I think that SSA can reinstate your spousal benefits without a new claim in that event. Since I'm not 100% sure of that, though, you could insist on filing a new claim for spousal benefits just to be safe. Your new claim will be dismissed as a duplicate application if Social Security can in fact reinstate your spousal benefits without a new claim.

Best, Jerry