This section describes how a representative payee (payee), or a recipient in direct
payment, may use the funds in a dedicated account. The instructions refer to “payees”
unless specific instructions refer to individuals who attain age 18. Additionally,
we will refer to the person managing the dedicated account as a payee; but a recipient
in direct payment can manage their own dedicated account.
Effective August 23, 1996, we must pay into a dedicated account certain past-due benefits
issued to the payee of a supplemental security income (SSI) recipient who is under
age 18. For the policy on which past-due benefits this affects, see SI 02101.010. We call this account a dedicated account because the law prohibits the deposit of
these funds into the same account as regular monthly SSI payments and limits the expenditures
from this account.
This law and its restrictions represent a significant departure from the traditional
approach on the use of SSI benefits by payees. These restrictions limit a payee's
discretion on the use of funds in a dedicated account and require the payee to use
the funds in a dedicated account only for medical treatment, education, job skills
training, or expenditures related in some other way to a consequence of the child’s
impairment.
The law requires that we exclude dedicated account funds from resources when determining
eligibility for SSI payments, see SI 01130.601. This exclusion gives a payee the use of the funds over a longer period without jeopardizing
the child's eligibility to receive SSI payments.