TN 6 (09-97)

GN 00505.032 Special Payee Procedures in Turkey - General

The broad influence of claims “helpers” and conditions in Turkey make it impossible to assume that payments made to representative payees, will be used in the best interests of the beneficiaries. Since most, if not all, of the beneficiaries under representative payment are children, the procedures set forth below are designed primarily to protect their interests.

One of the largest representative payee problem areas involves adopted children. Prior to the enactment of the 1965 amendments, the adoption of children was an effective means of increasing an individual's Social Security payments. Benefits were divided between the NH and the helper, with the child coming in a poor third. Little, if any, thought was given to the child's welfare or the benefits, other than monetary, which could be derived from the adoption. Because of the circumstances surrounding these adoptions, SSA makes every possible effort to insure that the children, not third parties, receive the benefit of the payments and that the children are being well cared for by their payees.

Similar care must also be taken in cases involving young widows receiving benefits for minor children, whether natural or adopted. The age of these widows and their substantial incomes make it improbable that they will remain unattached for long. Often they remarry (by religious rite which is not legally valid in Turkey), or accept the protection of, individuals who appropriate the children's benefits.