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  liable representative payee, refer to SI 02201.021;

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  surviving liable spouse, refer to SI 02201.022;

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  surviving sponsor of a non-citizen, refer to SI 02220.065; or

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  indication of fraud, refer to SI 02220.045C.3 in this section.

For purposes of these instructions, a "liable payee" is a payee who received SSI payments on behalf of the deceased individual for months after the month of the individual's death. The liable payee or their estate is solely liable for repayment, and we must recover, regardless of the amount of the overpayment.

If the payee dies and there is still an outstanding overpayment balance, we must recover from the payee's estate, or in some cases, the distributees or legal representative of the estate.

NOTE: The instructions in this section do not apply to payee misuse. When a payee has misused funds, the payee is solely liable for repayment. For information about payee misuse, refer to sensitive instructions GN 00604.000.

If you suspect the overpayment was a result of fraud by the deceased overpaid individual, liable spouse, or eligible non-citizen, develop the potential for recovery. Regardless of the overpayment amount, we must attempt recovery from the estate of the individual who committed fraud. Then we will attempt recovery from other liable individuals and their estates, refer to SI 02201.021. For additional information regarding SSI overpayments resulting from fraud, refer to SI 02201.007.

If there is no liable payee, surviving liable spouse, surviving sponsor or a non-citizen, or indication of fraud, we may recover from the deceased individual's estate, depending on the amount of the outstanding balance of the overpayment.

If the deceased overpaid individual does not have an estate, we may recover from the estate of the liable spouse or sponsor.

If the outstanding balance of the overpayment in the month of the overpaid individual's death is:

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  $30 or less, do not pursue recovery from the estate, as the cost of recovery would likely exceed the amount recovered;

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  More than $30, but not more than $3,000, notify the estate but do not pursue further overpayment recovery; or

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  More than $3,000, notify and pursue recovery from the deceased overpaid individual's estate or the estate of the surviving spouse or the surviving sponsor of a non-citizen.

For all overpayments of more than $30, send notice SSA-L8171, addressed to "The Estate of (name of deceased)," to the last known mailing address of the deceased overpaid individual. Find this notice in the Document Processing System (DPS) under the national and overpayment notices tabs. If the decedent received payments through direct deposit, send the notice to the residence address shown on the Supplemental Security Record (SSR).

If the decedent's estate is liable for repayment, attempt to obtain all developmental information by contacting the appropriate court.

Initiate estate development no earlier than 60 days after the individual's death, and no later than 2 years after the individual's death.

Estate development is the same for Title II and Title XVI.

For more information regarding estate liability and instructions for developing the deceased individual's estate, refer to GN 02215.050B.

We must notify the estate's legal representative that the decedent was overpaid and of the estate's liability for repayment. In cases where the estate has insufficient funds in the estate to satisfy all of the decedent's debts, certain expenses take priority over debts owed to the United States.

For all overpayments of more than $30 (or for overpayments of any amount when there is a liable payee or fraud), send notice SSA-L8171, addressed to “The Estate of (name of decedent) to the last known mailing address of the overpaid deceased individual. Find this notice in DPS under the national and overpayment notices tabs. If the decedent received payments via direct deposit, send the notice to the residence address shown on the Supplemental Security Record (SSR).

For instructions regarding legal representative notification, and more information on whether the debt owed to the agency takes priority over other estate debts, refer to GN 02215.055.

After we notify an estate's legal representative of an SSI overpayment, they may be held personally liable for repayment if they subsequently disburse estate funds to pay other debts and fail to repay the SSI overpayment.

In cases where the court has distributed the assets of a debtor's estate, we may also proceed against the distributee(s) of the estate.

For instructions regarding closed estates and recovering assets from distributees, refer to GN 02215.070.

Refer the overpayment to the Office of General Counsel (OGC) if the legal representative of an estate refuses to refund the overpayment and

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  the outstanding overpayment balance is more than $3,000; or

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  there is a liable payee or fraud, regardless of the overpayment amount.

If the OGC authorizes referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ), refer the debt to the DOJ with a request for recovery through civil litigation.

For instructions on recovery by referring an estate for civil suit, refer to SI 02220.035 and GN 02215.160.