Effective Dates: 11/12/2024 - Present Previous | Next

TN 87 (11-24)

GN 02408.800 Abandon Reclamation - EFT

A. Policy

SSA sends a request to the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to abandon the reclamation of all or some of the EFT payments listed on a previously sent request for reclamation when:

  • •

    The payments were sent to an account at a U.S. bank, and

  • •

    SSA has determined that the beneficiary/recipient is alive; or

  • •

    The date of death previously applied to the record was incorrect, so that SSA requested reclamations on payments that were not made after death; or

  • •

    The estate or withdrawer has already repaid all the money to SSA.

IMPORTANT: In direct deposit cases in which SSA has already received the funds from the reclamation action (via EFT return or FS-133/FS-135 credit), an abandon reclamation will not prompt Treasury to return the funds to the bank. If we have already received the reclaimed funds through Treasury, it is up to SSA to refund the amount. Follow the instructions in GN 02408.720, Dual Recovery, if SSA has received the money twice (from any combination of sources). For reclamation of International Direct Deposit (IDD) payments, see GN 02408.900.

B. Procedure – Title II or Title XVI

1. Correct all SSA records

  1. a. 

    Remove the death information if the beneficiary is alive.

  2. b. 

    Show the correct date of death, if an incorrect date is currently on the records.

  3. c. 

    Show all payments that have been returned.

    If... Then...

    It has been determined that the person is alive,

    Go to GN 02408.800B.2.

    All of the payments on the request for reclamation have already been repaid directly to SSA by the estate or a withdrawer,

    Go to GN 02408.800B.2.

    The estate, a withdrawer, or a family member has repaid some but not all of the payments,

    Go to GN 02408.800B.3.

    The date of death is later than the MBR or SSR showed when the request for reclamation went to the Department of the Treasury,

    Go to GN 02408.800B.4.

2. If No Payments Should be Reclaimed

If you have determined that the person is alive, or if you find that all of the payments on the request for reclamation have already been repaid directly to SSA by the estate or withdrawer, do the following:

  • •

    Complete the abandonment actions in GN 02408.800C.

  • •

    Show the correct reason and list all payments for which reclamation was requested. For Title II, this information should be on the PHUS query as SF-1184 event 070. For Title XVI, this information should be on the Q query.

  • •

    Be sure to complete the form with your office information, and information about you, the requester.

3. If all of the payments have been repaid

If the estate, a withdrawer, or a family member has repaid all of the payments, do the following:

  • •

    Complete the abandonment action in GN 02408.800C List the payments that were on the reclamation request.

4. Date of Death is Later Than the MBR Shows for a Title II record

When the actual date of death is later than the MBR shows, do the following:

  • •

    Correct the death information in the PC.

  • •

    Complete the abandonment action in GN 02408.800C. List all of the payments that should not be reclaimed.

C. Procedure for abandoning a reclamation request

See GN 02408.302 to abandon a reclamation request for Title II or Title XVI payments made by paper check(s). 

1. Abandoning a reclamation request for a Title XVI case

Title XVI abandonment actions are completed by Central Office's Office of Benefit Accounting and Systems Analysis. If the field office determines that a Title XVI abandonment action is needed the technician should e-mail the request to OBASA.TOB@ssa.gov. No further action is needed after the e-mail is sent. Be sure to include in the e-mail your office information, and information about you, the requester. Also include:

  • •

    the name and SSN of the beneficiary/recipient;

  • •

    the date and amount of the check; and

  • •

    the reason for abandoning the reclamation.

2. Abandoning a reclamation request for a Title II case

Title II abandonment actions are completed by the Program Service Centers. To complete the Title II abandonment request, follow instructions found in GN 02408.635.B.1 to input an abandonment request using the Treasury Online Forms Requestor (TOFR) application request. The TOFR application is available nationally on the KCNET's MAMPSC Data Input Page.

D. References

1. Title XVI:

  • •

    Reclamation – money recovered twice, SM 01315.142

  • •

    How to process an FS-133 (Notice of Reclamation), SM 01315.144

2. Title II:

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202408800
GN 02408.800 - Abandon Reclamation - EFT - 11/12/2024
Batch run: 11/12/2024
Rev:11/12/2024