Social Security has a little known program that can help families with elderly members who are not able to handle their own finances.
One of the many problems which families of the elderly have to face, is that the elderly person can lose the ability to handle his or her own finances.
Through no fault of their own, they forget what bills they need to pay.
They give money to people to whom they should not give it.
They are susceptible to scammers.
Some of these problems can be handled with a general durable power of attorney. However, many families worry that because the Social Security check still comes in the name of an elderly person with dementia, the money might still be lost.
However, that worry is unnecessary, since Social Security has a program that can help in these situations, as Forbes discusses in “The Social Security Program For People With Dementia.”
The program is the Social Security Representative Payee Program.
It allows someone else to receive the benefit checks of a Social Security payee as a representative.
It is a little known program that has been around for almost as long as Social Security itself.
For families that know about it and use the program, it can provide a great relief.
Unfortunately, it can be a bit of a challenge if one wants to sign up.
It requires a lot of paperwork to be submitted.
For that reason, people who are interested in using the program, might want to first consult with an elder law attorney.
Reference: Forbes (Sep. 26, 2017) “The Social Security Program For People With Dementia.”
