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Representative Payees and Beneficiaries Who Were Residing in Different States

August 28, 2014

Some individuals cannot manage or direct the management of their finances because of their youth or mental and/or physical impairments. Congress granted SSA the authority to appoint representative payees to receive and manage these beneficiaries’ payments. Representative payees are responsible for managing benefits in the beneficiary’s best interests.

SSA should consider all factors when selecting a representative payee, including the applicant’s relationship to the beneficiary; the applicant’s interest in the beneficiary’s well-being; and whether the applicant has custody of, or lives in close proximity to, the beneficiary.

We reviewed 180 beneficiaries who resided in a non-contiguous State from their representative payees.

This report’s purpose was to determine whether (1) representative payees who were residing in a State different from the beneficiaries they represented used Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments in the beneficiaries’ best interests and (2) SSA) effectively monitored beneficiaries whose representative payees resided in different States.

Read the full report

Read the summary report

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