I recently became the payee/representative for both my father and mother. My mother was the payee/rep for my father for several years and both of their SSA checks went into one account. My mom can no longer handle money matters, so I will soon be setting up a payee/rep account at a local bank to take care of their finances. Can I open one account and have both their SSA checks automatcally deposited in it, so that I only have to write checks on one account? Social Securitly says no problem, but two banks say I have to have separate accounts for each of them. What gives?
The problem is that the bank doesn't understand that SSA would OK such an arrangement. All of the information on the SSA website for representative payees suggests that funds not be comingled, except for a single paragraph that addresses the possibility of a parent depositing multiple payments (for more than one minor beneficiary) into a single account. It only seems reasonable that the same policy could be applied to your situation, a sort of role reversal if you will. So many of us are now finding it necessary to care for our aging parents. The bank may not be willing to take that leap, so it might be helpful for you to ask an SSA representative to intercede and send the bank something that will reassure it that what you propose is acceptable to the SSA.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 3/11/09
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The problem is that the bank doesn't understand that SSA would OK such an arrangement. All of the information on the SSA website for representative payees suggests that funds not be comingled, except for a single paragraph that addresses the possibility of a parent depositing multiple payments (for more than one minor beneficiary) into a single account. It only seems reasonable that the same policy could be applied to your situation, a sort of role reversal if you will. So many of us are now finding it necessary to care for our aging parents. The bank may not be willing to take that leap, so it might be helpful for you to ask an SSA representative to intercede and send the bank something that will reassure it that what you propose is acceptable to the SSA.
