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TN 9 (03-24)

GN 00501.013 Explanations for Types of Payees

NOTE: The descriptions for types of payees and types of custodians are the same.

In the Electronic Representative Payee System, we no longer use the custody code “PYE” (payee is custodian). An explanation of the various types of payees are in GN 00501.013A.

A. Types of payees

1. Individual payees

The types of individual payees are:

PAYEES

EXPLANATION

Spouse

The spouse of the beneficiary. This includes a “de facto,” “common-law,” or “holding out” spouse.

Father

The natural or adoptive father of the beneficiary.

Mother

The natural or adoptive mother of the beneficiary.

Stepfather

The spouse of the child's natural or adoptive parent.

Stepmother

The spouse of the child's natural or adoptive parent.

Grandparent

The grandparent of the beneficiary. This includes an adoptive grandparent, step-grandparent, or great-grandparent.

Child

The child of the beneficiary. This includes a stepchild.

Relative

Any other person not described above who is related to the beneficiary by blood or marriage.

Other (Individual)

Any person not described above. This includes, but is not restricted to:

  • •

    a friend,

  • •

    an unrelated “volunteer” payee,

  • •

    an unrelated guardian,

  • •

    a room and board provider, and

  • •

    an applicant or payee normally classified as an organization, but has no Employer Identification Number (EIN).

2. Types of institutional payees

Institutional payees are an organizational payee subgroup. The types of institutional payees are:

PAYEES

EXPLANATION

Federal

An institution funded and operated by an entity of the federal government. A typical example is a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) hospital.

State and Local

An institution funded and operated by a State or local government. Typical examples are State psychiatric institutions, county developmental centers for individuals with Intellectual Disability and State hospitals.

 

NOTE: We classify all onsite review institutions listed as State and local mental institutions, and code them as "SLM."

 

REMEMBER: An onsite review institution can only be established or updated by the regional office, see POMS GN 00605.696C.

Private, For-Profit

A private or for-profit is an institution operated by an individual or corporation to make a profit. Examples of these institutions are: privately owned nursing homes, board and care homes, and extended care facilities.

Non-profit

Non-profit means any not-for-profit, non-governmental institution. Typical examples are homes operated by religious organizations and charities.

Institutional Payee Subtypes

Each type of institutional applicant/payee is further classified as either:

  • •

    a mental facility, which cares primarily for individuals with mental disorders, or

  • •

    a non-mental (or other) facility, which cares primarily for individuals with physical disorders.

3. Other types of organizational payees

PAYEES

EXPLANATION

Financial

Organization

This category includes banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, and other similar organizations, whose primary purpose is to handle money.

Social Agency

An agency is a non-custodial entity providing "social service" types of assistance to the community. Examples of agencies include a State or county Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, and United Way agencies.  

NOTE: For coding purposes, we make no distinction between governmental and private sector agencies.

Official

An official is an agent of a State or other governmental entity. An official is an organizational payee because they perform "official" duties as a job function rather than as an individual in the community. An official can work for the governmental entity and can be elected or appointed to that government position. Officials are typically public guardians, officers of the court, and other similar positions. When the official is a Canadian statutory guardian, see GN 00505.019.

Other (Organization)

This category contains any other organization not mentioned above. This designation is rarely used.

NOTE: The implementation of the RPS has also presented type of payee (top) coding problems unique to our public administrators. The organization often meets both the definition of a legal guardian (individual) and the public official (organizational) type of payee.

B. Procedure for determining the relationship between the payee and beneficiary

Carefully determine the type of payee which best describes the relationship between the payee and the beneficiary and code the proper Type of Payee.

Check the previous payee code. If the relationship code between the payee and beneficiary is incorrect, make the necessary changes.

C. References

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    SM 01005.380, and SM 01301.625 Representative Payee

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    SI 00501.152 Explanation of “holding out” spouse,

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    GN 00502.112 Identifiers for eRPS, and Electronic Representative Payee System

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0200501013
GN 00501.013 - Explanations for Types of Payees - 03/14/2024
Batch run: 03/14/2024
Rev:03/14/2024