Make every reasonable effort to contact the payee before considering appointing a successor payee. Do not suspend benefits as a tool for achieving contact with the payee. Consider a change of payee following instructions in GN 00605.090B.1.

Generally, a parent with custody is the preferred payee. Even if a parent refuses a face-to-face interview, change of payee is not a desirable option. When dealing with an uncooperative parent payee, follow instructions in GN 00605.090B.2.

The repeated failure of a payee to respond to SSA's requests for information may indicate that the payee is no longer suitable. To determine whether to consider a successor payee, follow instructions in GN 00504.100.

NOTE: If you terminate the former payee due to non-response, document the Representative Payee Report of Contact (RPRC) screen on the Representative Payee System, following instructions in GN 00504.100B.3.