After we have made a determination or decision that you are entitled to benefits under title II of the Act, we begin paying those benefits to you as soon as possible. This subpart explains—

(a) What we must do so that your benefits begin promptly;

(b) When and how you may request that payment of benefits be expedited;

(c) When we may cause your benefits to be withheld;

(d) Our obligation not to assign or transfer your benefits to someone; and

(e) When we will use one check to pay benefits to two or more persons in a family.

(a) As soon as possible after we have made a determination or decision that you are entitled to benefits, we certify to the Secretary of the Treasury, who is the Managing Trustee of the Trust Funds—

(1) Your name and address, or the name and address of the person to be paid if someone receives your benefits on your behalf as a representative payee;

(2) The amount of the payment or payments to be made from the appropriate Trust Fund; and

(3) The time at which the payment or payments should be made in accordance with § 404.1807.

(b) Under certain circumstances when you have had railroad employment, we will certify the information to the Railroad Retirement Board.

[45 FR 52095, Aug. 5, 1980, as amended at 62 FR 6120, Feb. 11, 1997]

(a) General. Once we have made a determination or decision that you are entitled to recurring monthly benefits, you will be assigned a monthly payment day. Thereafter, any recurring monthly benefits which are payable to you will be certified to the Managing Trustee for delivery on or before that day of the month as part of our certification under § 404.1805(a)(3). Except as provided in paragraphs (c)(2) through (c)(6) of this section, once you have been assigned a monthly payment day, that day will not be changed.

(b) Assignment of payment day. (1) We will assign the same payment day for all individuals who receive benefits on the earnings record of a particular insured individual.

(2) The payment day will be selected based on the day of the month on which the insured individual was born. Insured individuals born on the 1st through the 10th of the month will be paid on the second Wednesday of each month. Insured individuals born on the 11th through the 20th of the month will be paid on the third Wednesday of each month. Insured individuals born after the 20th of the month will be paid on the fourth Wednesday of each month. See paragraph (c) of this section for exceptions.

(3) We will notify you in writing of the particular monthly payment day that is assigned to you.

(c) Exceptions. (1) If you or any other person became entitled to benefits on the earnings record of the insured individual based on an application filed before May 1, 1997, you will continue to receive your benefits on the 3rd day of the month (but see paragraph (c)(6) of this section). All persons who subsequently become entitled to benefits on that earnings record will be assigned to the 3rd day of the month as the monthly payment day.

(2) If you or any other person become entitled to benefits on the earnings record of the insured individual based on an application filed after April 30, 1997, and also become entitled to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits or have income which is deemed to an SSI beneficiary (per § 416.1160), all persons who are or become entitled to benefits on that earnings record will be assigned to the 3rd day of the month as the monthly payment day. We will notify you in writing if your monthly payment day is being changed to the 3rd of the month due to this provision.

(3) If you or any other person become entitled to benefits on the earnings record of the insured individual based on an application filed after April 30, 1997, and also reside in a foreign country, all persons who are or become entitled to benefits on that earnings record will be assigned to the 3rd day of the month as the monthly payment day. We will notify you in writing if your monthly payment day is being changed to the 3rd of the month due to this provision.

(4) If you or any other person become entitled on the earnings record of the insured individual based on an application filed after April 30, 1997, and are not entitled to SSI but are or become eligible for the State where you live to pay your Medicare premium under the provisions of section 1843 of the Act, all persons who are or become entitled to benefits on that earnings record will be assigned to the 3rd day of the month as the monthly payment day. We will notify you in writing if your monthly payment day is being changed to the 3rd of the month due to this provision.

(5) After April 30, 1997, all individuals who become entitled on one record and later entitled on another record, without a break in entitlement, will be paid all benefits to which they are entitled no later than their current payment day. Individuals who are being paid benefits on one record on the 3rd of the month, and who become entitled on another record without a break in entitlement, will continue to receive all benefits on the 3rd of the month.

(6) If the day regularly scheduled for the delivery of your benefit payment falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal legal holiday, you will be paid on the first preceding day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal legal holiday.

[62 FR 6120, Feb. 11, 1997]

(a) General. We have established special procedures to expedite the payment of benefits in certain initial and subsequent claims. This section tells how you may request an expedited payment and when we will be able to hasten your payments by means of this process.

(b) Applicability of section. (1) This section applies to monthly benefits payable under title II of the Act, except as indicated in paragraph (b)(2) of this section; and to those cases where we certify information to the Railroad Retirement Board.

(2) This section does not apply—

(i) If an initial determination has been made and a request for a reconsideration, a hearing, a review by the Appeals Council, or review by a Federal court is pending on any issue of entitlement to or payment of a benefit;

(ii) To any benefit for which a check has been cashed; or

(iii) To any benefit based on an alleged disability.

(c) Request for payment. (1) You shall submit to us a written request for payment of benefits in accordance with paragraph (c)(2) or (c)(3) of this section. Paragraph (c)(2) of this section applies if you were receiving payments regularly and you then fail to receive payment for one or more months. Paragraph (c)(3) of this section applies if we have not made a determination about your entitlement to benefits, or if we have suspended or withheld payment due, for example, to excess earnings or recovery of an overpayment.

(2) If you received a regular monthly benefit in the month before the month in which a payment was allegedly due, you may make a written request for payment any time 30 days after the 15th day of the month in which the payment was allegedly due. If you request is made before the end of the 30-day period, we will consider it to have been made at the end of the period.

(3)(i) If you did not receive a regular monthly benefit in the month before the month in which a payment was allegedly due, you may make a written request for payment any time 90 days after the later of—

(A) The date on which the benefit is alleged to have been due; or

(B) The date on which you furnished us the last information we requested from you.

(ii) If your request is made before the end of the 90-day period we will consider it to have been made at the end of the period.

(d) Certification for payment. If we find that benefits are due, we shall certify the benefits for payment in sufficient time to permit the payment to be made within 15 days after the request for expedited payment is made, or considered to have been made, as provided in paragraph (c) of this section.

(e) Preliminary certification for payment. If we determine that there is evidence, although additional evidence may be required for a final decision, that a monthly benefit due to you in a particular month was not paid, we may make preliminary certification of payment even though the 30-day or 90-day periods described in paragraph (c) of this section have not elapsed.

(a) When certification may be withheld. After a determination or decision, we may withhold certification to the Managing Trustee, or, if we have already made certification, we may notify the Managing Trustee to withhold payments. We may do this if a question about the validity of the payment or payments to be made under the determination or decision arises as the result of one of the following events:

(1) A reconsideration (whether at the request of a claimant or on our own motion), hearing, or review is being conducted, or a civil action has been filed in a Federal district court concerning the determination or decision.

(2) An application or request is pending concerning the payment of benefits or a lump sum to another person, and the application or request is inconsistent, in whole or in part, with the payment or payments under the determination or decision.

(b) When certification will not be withheld. We will not withhold certification or payment as explained in paragraph (a) of this section unless evidence is submitted with the request or application that is sufficient to raise a reasonable question about the validity of the payment or payments under the determination or decision. We will not withhold certification of any amount of the payment or payments not in question. Your acceptance of any payment or payments will not affect your right to reconsideration, hearing, or review about any additional payment or payments you may claim.

(a) General. We shall not certify payment to—

(1) Any person designated as your assignee or transferee; or

(2) Any person claiming payment because of an execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, or because of any bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding against or affecting you.

(b) Enforcement of a child support or alimony obligation. If you have a legal obligation to provide child support or make alimony payments and legal process is issued to enforce this obligation, the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section do not apply.

(a) Payments that are covered by section 207 of the Social Security Act and made by direct deposit are subject to 31 CFR part 212, Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments.

(b) This section may be amended only by a rulemaking issued jointly by the Department of Treasury and the agencies defined as a “benefit agency” in 31 CFR 212.3.

[76 FR 9960, Feb. 23, 2011]

(a) Two or more beneficiaries in same family. If an amount is payable under title II of the Act for any month to two or more persons who are members of the same family, we may certify any two or more of the individuals for joint payment of the total benefits payable to them for the month.

(b) Joint payee dies before cashing a check. (1) If a check has been issued for joint payment to an individual and spouse residing in the same household, and one of the joint payees dies before the check has been cashed, we may authorize the surviving payee to cash the check. We make the authorization by placing on the face of the check a stamped legend signed by an official of the Social Security Administration or the Treasury Disbursing Office redesignating the survivor as the payee of the check.

(2) If the uncashed check represents benefits for a month after the month of death, we will not authorize the surviving payee to cash the check unless the proceeds of the check are necessary to meet the ordinary and necessary living expenses of the surviving payee.

(c) Adjustment or recovery of overpayment. If a check representing payment of benefits to an individual and spouse residing in the same household is cashed by the surviving payee under the authorization in paragraph (b) of this section, and the amount of the check exceeds the amount to which the surviving payee is entitled, we shall make appropriate adjustment or recovery of the excess amount.