It is important to input the manual reclamation as soon as the responsible component learns of the need for a manual input. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is required by the Code of Federal Regulations to send the reclamation request within 120 days of the date the agency learned of the death.

Do not input a manual reclamation request (E-stop) for a case listed in GN 02408.620E in this section.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) imposes a three (3) year time limit for federal agencies to submit final debits (i.e., Automated Clearing House (ACH) reclaims) of a Financial Institution's (FI) Federal Reserve account via the FMS-135, Request for Debit. An ACH reclaim represents a debit against an FI for certain liability on payments disbursed after the death of a beneficiary. Agencies have three years from the date the FMS-133, Notice of Reclamation, is dated to submit ACH reclaims via the FMS-135 to Treasury's Philadelphia, Kansas City and San Francisco Regional Financial Centers (RFC). Items older than three years are rejected and not processed (see GN02408.626.

Generally, the FI is not liable for any money received more than six years before the most recent payment. However, if the account contains more than that amount, the FI is responsible for the total amount of all payments made after death, up to the amount in the account when the FI receives the notice of reclamation.

The responsible SSA component must assist the FI by doing a manual reclamation input or providing a reclamation request letter when an FI asks for documentation. (See FI Notifies SSA of Possible Escheat GN 02408.750)

When a manual reclamation request is needed for more months after an automated or manual reclamation request has already been sent, SSA notifies the RFC to put the requests together and send a reclamation notice to the FI for all incorrect payments at the same time using the NED Report. See NED Report, GN 02408.660.

The Field Office (FO) manually inputs an E-stop in the following situations:

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  A death termination has been on the Supplemental Security Record (SSR) for more than 30 days. The SSR shows that one or more incorrect payments were issued. However, the Treasury Status Query (UPTQ) does not show E-stops for one or more of these payments. For information on the Treasury Status Query, see MS 00303.020.

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  An incorrect month or year of death has been discovered on the SSR, and the actual date of death was earlier. An E-stop is required for any incorrect payment that was not included in the original reclamation request.

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  The date of death is earlier than the start date (SD) on the current record.

NOTE: Unlike Title II, there is no systems limitation on the number of payments that can be included in a Title XVI automated or manual reclamation request.

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  The recipient's date of death was August 9, 2008, but on September 10, 2008, a date of death (DOD) of September 8, 2008, is input. When the technician discovers the error, he corrects the DOD and sends a request to the FO to input an E-stop for the September payment, which was dated September 3, 2008.

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  On September 30, 2008, a date of death for Ms. Day is input as July 10, 2008. When her daughter calls to correct the DOD to July 25, 2008, the technician corrects the date. However, the technician does not send a reclamation request, as the correct DOD did not change the months for which an automated reclamation had already been sent.

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  After the technician terminates Mr. Cheer's Title XVI record and establishes a new record with a start date of October 1, 2008, she learns that Mr. Cheer died on September 30, 2008. In addition to making the death input, the technician inputs an E-stop for the October 1, 2008, payment.

A payment that went to the representative payee after the beneficiary's death is a legally defined overpayment (LDO). We process the overpayment, giving due process.

For manual reclamation inputs, this exclusion is valid even when the spouse or parent is only technically entitled on the record (in LAF-AD or LAF-SD on the MBR). (Due to systems limitations, automated reclamations cannot take into account any situations in which the beneficiary is not being paid on the same record. Therefore, the system may send an automated reclamation for these cases.)

The PSC sends an overpayment notice, with due process, to collect the incorrect payment(s) from the spouse or parent joint-account holder who was entitled on the same Title II record for the month before the month of death. The PSC inputs the overpayment information into ROAR and the MBR BOUD field. If the spouse or parent does not return the funds, the PC takes the money out of benefit payments to the spouse or parent.

NOTE: No DNE is sent to the FI when a beneficiary and spouse share the same bank account. For more about DNE, see GN 02408.605.

When the regular payment date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday, the payment date becomes the last day before the regular payment date that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday. This is defined as an early delivery payment date. When a Title II or Title XVI beneficiary/recipient dies on an early delivery payment date or later, the payment is normally due the beneficiary/recipient.

EXCEPTION EXAMPLES:

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  09/03/07 was Labor Day (Monday). The early delivery date was 08/31/07 (Friday). If a Title II beneficiary died on 08/31/07, he or she is not entitled to the payment.

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  The beneficiary received her benefit check for December on Thursday morning, December 31, and cashed her check that afternoon. On returning to her apartment shortly after cashing her check, she died. Although a benefit is not due for the month of death, the beneficiary had already cashed the check for the December benefit. The December benefit is incorrect, but is not subject to recovery. (See GN 02201.007E)

Treasury has no authority over foreign banks. Reclamation of Title II IDD payments (when the routing number begins with 5, 6, or 7) begins at GN 02408.900.

The system does not send an automated reclamation for a deceased recipient on a Title XVI couple’s record when either or both members had direct deposit. This scenario is treated as an overpayment to the surviving spouse. Do not initiate a manual reclamation.

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  The Title XVI payment date for March 2008 was February 29, 2008, because March 1 was Saturday. Mr. Smith, who was receiving Title XVI payments, died on February 29, 2008. He was due the payment, and no reclamation was sent.

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  The Title II payment date for the January 2008 benefit was February 1, 2008. Mr. Johnson, a Title II beneficiary, died at 12:01 AM (just after midnight) on February 1, 2008. He was due the payment, and no reclamation was sent.

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  The Title XVI payment for February 2008 was February 1, 2008. Ms. Green died at 10:58 PM on January 31, 2008. She was not due the payment, and a reclamation was sent.

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  John Doe and his wife, Joan, both received Title II benefits on his record to a joint bank account. One payment went out for John after his death, but no reclamation request was sent to Treasury. Instead, the PSC sent an overpayment notice to Joan for the amount of the payment that was not due to John.

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  Ms. Repp was the representative payee for Ms. Worker, a Title II beneficiary. Two payments went out after Ms. Worker's death. An overpayment notice was sent to Ms. Repp for the amount of the two payments. No reclamation request was sent to Treasury.