SSA - POMS: GN 00603.021 - How to Title Accounts Managed by Representative Payees

A. Policy

When a representative payee (payee) holds a beneficiary’s Social Security benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in an account, the payee must title the account properly to protect the beneficiary and the beneficiary’s ownership interest in the funds.

The payee must establish the account so that:

•

The beneficiary owns the funds;
•

The beneficiary does not have access to the funds; and,
•

The payee has a fiduciary interest in the funds.

The account titling rules in this section apply to direct deposit accounts as well as any other account the payee may use to manage benefits. See GN 02402.055 for information on direct deposit in cases involving payees.

Proper account titling affords Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protection with FDIC-insured financial institutions. Proper account titling also protects beneficiary funds from claims by a payee’s creditor.

B. Acceptable Account Titles

Accept any form of account title the financial institution recognizes as establishing beneficiary ownership of the funds, but without beneficiary direct access to them, see GN 02402.055. The preferred account title is: (Name of Beneficiary) by (Name of Representative Payee) representative payee.

Example: Peter Rock by Mary Stone, representative payee.

Other forms of account titling are acceptable if they establish the beneficiary’s ownership of the funds and the payee’s fiduciary interest in the funds. For example, (Name of Representative Payee), representative payee for (Name of Beneficiary).

When the payee is the court-appointed guardian of the beneficiary, you may also see the account titled as follows: (Name of Beneficiary) by (Name of Representative Payee), guardian. This form of account title is acceptable in that situation. The same format may be used for a court-appointed committee, conservator, or other representative, provided it shows that the payee is acting only in a fiduciary capacity for the beneficiary.

If a payee establishes an account that is improperly titled or that has an account title that does not clearly meet our requirements, ask them to change the title to match the preferred account title format.

For acceptable titles of accounts at financial institutions outside the United States, see GN 00603.015.

C. Account Titling Exceptions

1. Exceptions for Parents' and Spouses' Checking Accounts

An exception allows certain parent or spouse payees to use their personal checking accounts if all of the following are true:

•

The payee is the spouse, natural/adoptive parent, or stepparent of the beneficiary;
•

The payee and the beneficiary live in the same household;
•

The payee requests direct deposit to the payee's personal checking account; and
•

The Field Office (FO) verifies with the payee that benefits will be used for the beneficiary's current expenses, and there will be no accumulation of funds in the account.

This exception applies for any category of Social Security or SSI benefits. The beneficiary does not need to be receiving benefits as a disabled/blind child or disabled adult child. The age of the “child” is not material. For additional information, see “Exception” in (GN 02402.055D).

NOTE: The above titling exception does not apply to savings accounts. We allow the payee to deposit benefits for one or more beneficiaries to their checking account, if all of the exception criteria described above are met. However, the same payee cannot deposit the benefits for one or more beneficiaries to their own savings account.

IMPORTANT: Benefits should not accumulate in the spouse’s or parent’s checking account. The spouse or parent should conserve the accumulated benefits in a properly titled savings account. For more information on conserving benefits, see GN 00603.010.

2. Exceptions for State and Local Governmental Organizations

We may allow an exception to the general account titling rule for payees that are agencies of a State or local government. The exception applies when the State or local government’s accounting structure sufficiently protects beneficiary interests and clearly identifies what funds belong to the beneficiary.

a. General depository account

A State or local government may require a subordinate agency to deposit all receipts into the State/local government’s general depository account that routes the deposits to an agency-specific sub-account.

The agency payee may use a State/local general depository account if:

1.

The State/local government requires the use of the general depository account;
2.

The State/local government promptly routes beneficiaries’ funds from the general depository account to the payee’s fiduciary bank account set up for the beneficiaries;
3.

The sub-account protects beneficiaries’ funds from any State/local government use; and
4.

The payee complies with the payee responsibilities for maintaining a collective account described in GN 00603.020.

b. Childcare or foster care account

A State or local government may have a current childcare fund, foster care account, or similar account to receive funds and pay expenses. The agency payee may use this account if:

1.

The State/local government uses the account to receive the Social Security and SSI benefits;
2.

The State/local government uses the account to pay routine cost-of-care expenses;
3.

The State/local government maintains account ledgers detailing the cost-of-care expenses and the Social Security and SSI deposits for each child beneficiary;
4.

The account protects beneficiary funds from any State/local government use; and
5.

The payee complies with the payee responsibilities for maintaining a collective account described in GN 00603.020.

D. Collective account titles

When a payee receives benefits into a collective account:

•

The collective account title must show that the payee holds the account in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of the beneficiaries;
•

The payee’s name on the collective account title must match the payee’s name in the Electronic Representative Payee System (eRPS).
•

The beneficiaries must own the account without having access to it.
•

The payee must manage the funds but cannot have a personal interest in the account.

In addition to correct titling, the payee must obtain our approval to use the collective account and meet the requirements in GN 00603.020.

Some acceptable collective account title formats are:

•

Payee's name for Social Security/SSI Beneficiaries;
•

Payee's name for (any similar term describing Social Security/SSI Beneficiaries, such as "SSA beneficiaries"); and
•

Payee's name Resident Trust Fund.

For additional account titling criteria for organizational payees, see GN 00603.021E.

Examples

If the collective account title is:	Acceptable	Reason
Helping Hands	No	This is a general account, not a fiduciary one.
Jane Smith for Social Security Beneficiaries	Yes	This is an appropriate title for an individual payee.
Helping Hands Fund for Social Security Beneficiaries	Yes	This is an appropriate title for the organizational payee, Helping Hands.
Helping Hands Fund for Social Security/SSI Beneficiaries	Yes	This is an appropriate title for the organizational payee, Helping Hands.
Helping Hands Resident Trust Account. See GN 00603.020C.1. in this section.	Yes	This is an appropriate title for a Resident Trust Fund held by the organizational payee, Helping Hands.
Helping Hands Trust (a traditional trust account)	No	A payee cannot use a traditional trust fund as a collective account.
State of Maryland Agency Depository Account	Yes	There are account titling exceptions for State/local governments, see GN 00603.021C.2. in this section.

E. Additional account titling criteria for organizational payees

1. Using "doing business as" (DBA) names for collective accounts

An organization can operate using a DBA name. The organization name is the legal name. The DBA name is the business name of the organization or one of its entities. An organization can have multiple businesses and use different DBA names to identify them. The name of the payee must be the name in eRPS and the name on the collective account title.

EXAMPLE: Manor Corporation owns two community-based nursing facilities. The corporation does business as:

•

Manor Corporation DBA Gentle Manor Nursing Facility; and
•

Manor Corporation DBA Daisy Manor Nursing Facility.

In this example, if Gentle Manor is the payee, Gentle Manor must manage the collective account. Gentle Manor’s name, not Manor Corporation’s name, must be the name in eRPS and the name on the collective account title.

2. Collective account titles for subsidiary, local chapter, or branch payees

When evaluating an organizational payee applicant, we consider whether the organization has custody of or is located in close proximity to the beneficiary. See GN 00502.130. Accordingly, we may appoint a subsidiary, local chapter, or branch office as payee rather than the parent organization. In these cases, the payee’s name, not the parent corporation’s name, must be part of the collective account title and must be in eRPS. Do not use the parent organization’s name unless the parent organization is the payee.

Using the Manor Corporation example in GN 00603.021E.1 in this section, the individual nursing facilities; Gentle Manor and Daisy Manor, would be the payees, not Manor Corporation. Each payee would have a collective account using that specific business’s DBA name. The payee must deposit Social Security and SSI funds into the payee’s collective account. In this example, Gentle Manor receives the deposits for the beneficiaries it serves as payee into its collective account, and Daisy Manor receives the deposits for the beneficiaries it serves as payee into its collective account.

3. Examples of collective account titles for organizational payees

The following chart shows examples of acceptable and unacceptable collective account titles using Manor Corp. and Manor Corp. DBA Daisy Manor Nursing Facility. For information on a payee’s use of a Resident Trust Fund (also called a Resident Trust Account), see GN 00603.020.

If the collective account title is:	Acceptable	Reason
Manor Corp.	No, neither can use this as a collective account.	This is a corporate account, not a fiduciary account. There is no indication SSA beneficiaries own the funds within the account.
Manor Corp. DBA Daisy Manor Nursing Facility	No, neither can use this as a collective account.	This is the nursing facility’s business account. There is no indication SSA beneficiaries own the funds within the account.
Manor Corp. DBA Daisy Manor Nursing Facility Resident Trust Fund	Yes, if the payee is Daisy Manor Nursing Facility.	See GN 00603.020C.1. This is an acceptable title for a nursing facility’s Resident Trust Fund.
Daisy Manor Nursing Facility Resident Trust Account	Yes, if the payee is Daisy Manor Nursing Facility.	See GN 00603.020C.1. This is an acceptable title for a nursing facility’s Resident Trust Fund.
Manor Corp. Resident Trust Account	Yes, if the payee is Manor Corp.	See GN 00603.020C.1. This is an acceptable title for a nursing facility’s Resident Trust Fund.
	No, if the payee is Daisy Manor.	This is not an acceptable account title because the payee’s name (Daisy Manor Nursing Facility) is not in the title.
Daisy Manor Nursing Facility Fund for Social Security Beneficiaries	Yes, if Daisy Manor Nursing Facility is the payee. NOTE: Whenever Daisy Manor Nursing Facility is the payee, Daisy Manor Nursing Facility’s name and address must be in eRPS as the payee. Daisy Manor Nursing Facility can use Manor Corp.’s EIN.	Manor Corp. is doing business as Daisy Manor Nursing Facility. Daisy Manor Nursing Facility is the payee. The account title shows that Daisy Manor Nursing Facility has a fiduciary interest, and the beneficiaries own the funds.
Manor Corp. Fund for Social Security Beneficiaries	Yes, if Manor Corp is the payee. NOTE: Manor Corp.’s name, address, and EIN must be in eRPS as the payee.	Manor Corp. is the payee. The account title shows that Manor Corp. has a fiduciary interest, and the beneficiaries own the funds.

F. References

•

GN 00603.010 Conserving Benefits in a Savings or Checking Account
•

GN 00502.130 Factors to Consider in Evaluating Payee Applicants
•

GN 00603.015 Foreign Bank Account Legends
•

GN 00603.020 Collective Checking and Savings Accounts Managed by Representative Payees
•

GN 02402.055 Direct Deposit for Representative Payee Cases

Social Security

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)

GN 00603.021 How to Title Accounts Managed by Representative Payees