Remastered Q&A: Can You Be Your Own Social Security Disability Payee?

0:27 Does a person have a right to be their own representative payee or will a Social Security give that person the opportunity to prove that they can handle their own money. All right, let me explain to you what the concept of a representative payees whether you believe it or not. And this may sound kind of funky, but listen carefully.

0:45 Even if you paid into Social Security system, or even if you're getting money through supplemental Security income, this is still a federal program. So the federal government has an interest in making sure that your money is being processed, meaning when you're getting money for disability, it should be used for your benefit, primarily taking care of things like bills, food, things of that nature. This may sound harsh, so don't take it the wrong way, but there are some situations where really Social Security has an interest of ensuring that they don't think you're in the best position to handle your own money. And you will say, you're probably saying yourselves, well, what do you mean, Well, maybe you have a cognitive

1:26 impairment that affects your ability to remember things, maybe you have a past history of drugs and alcohol use. They don't want you to spending your disability money on drugs and alcohol. Maybe you have a literacy of issue. Maybe there's a situation where you get so stressed out that when you get stressed you can't focus. Maybe it's a pain issue. It could be a variety of different circumstances.

1:48 And what happens is that under those circumstances, if Social Security is concerned that you are not that you the person who's been found disabled, is not in the best position to your money, they may they being social Security, may designate that you should have a representative pay now. Social Security won't just will and nearly slap this thing on you. A lot of times they do a preliminary inquiry to see whether or not they believe you really need one, or if you can handle it on your own.

2:19 If you can demonstrate that you can handle taking care of your own financial affairs, then in some instances they may determine that you don't necessarily need a representative pay now. Some of you right now are probably thinking, well, what does that mean? What do I have to do? What do I have to do? It depends on the work you're speaking with. Typically, what I tell people is a couple of things. Usually you're going to probably have some interview with someone who has to make an independent determination of whether they believe you need a representative pay. They're probably going to ask you a series of questions. You're going to need to tell them a couple of things. One, who's been handling your finances up to this point, who's

2:56 been helping you pay your bills? How many bank accounts do you own that you've been able to handle on your own. Those things are helpful because if let's say, for instance, that for the last couple of years, you've been handling all your finances with no problems, social Security may will take that in consideration in terms of saying, you know what, this person, even though they have these problems, they've been handling their bills for the longest. Also, a statement from your doctor goes a long way. So if you've got a doctor that's willing to fill out a form for you, or fill out a form for you asking me basically say hey, I believe that this person is if they want to fill out a form for you basically saying that this person can handle their financial affairs,

3:39 you'd be surprised that actually goes a long way towards HELPNA. So I say all this to say this, you can just because Social Security says that you need a representative pay. Just because they put that down, don't necessarily just think in your mind that that's a slam dug that you can't handle your own funds and finances. Social Security will take it upon themselves to give these the opportunity to demonstrate if you can handle your own financial affairs, and it's not casting stone. If your condition gets some better over time, you can always go back to Social Security to demonstrate that you're able to handle your own affairs.

4:17 I just need you to understand one thing. Social Security has a responsibility to ensure that your money is being spent for your benefit. If they don't believe that you are in the best position to handle your own finances, they're going to sign you. They're going to recommend the represented pay. That's not to your detriment, that's to your benefit.