Login | May 14, 2026
POA Is not enough for social security
JULIE JASON
Published: May 14, 2026
When incapacity becomes a concern, the durable power of attorney (POA) is the document that comes into play, working wonders to enable transactions when you cannot act on your own.
The POA authorizes a third party (your "attorney in fact") to act on your behalf. However, some organizations, such as the Social Security Administration (SSA), won't accept POAs. Instead, you'll need to name a "representative payee" to step into your shoes if you need someone to act on your behalf with authority to negotiate and manage your Social Security payments.
A representative payee is "a person or entity appointed by Social Security to manage benefit payments for someone unable to do so on their own -- for example, a minor child, a person with a severe disability, or a retiree suffering from advanced dementia," writes Andy Markowitz in the AARP blog "What is a representative payee?" (tinyurl.com/mtnxtbc6).
What does a payee do? According to the SSA's "FAQs for Beneficiaries Who Have a Representative Payee" webpage, "Your representative payee must use your benefits to pay for your needs. These could include payment for food, shelter, clothes, medical care and personal comfort items. Also, your representative payee must tell SSA of events that could change the amount of, or affect your right to receive, benefits" (tinyurl.com/5eve8hkp).
Payees "are responsible for keeping records of how the payments are spent or saved, and making all records available for review if requested by SSA," the SSA webpage "When People Need Help Managing Their Money" states (tinyurl.com/5n8yyjdt). Payees may receive an annual Representative Payee Report, in which they must account for the benefit payments received. In addition, the SSA can authorize an "educational visit and payee review." See the SSA webpage "Representative Payee Site Reviews" for more information (tinyurl.com/329wu5tv).
You can name someone in advance (an "advance designation") as a representative payee. In fact, you can designate up to three people who could eventually serve in the role.
Then, if the need arises at some point, the designees will be evaluated by the SSA to "determine their suitability" (tinyurl.com/ydjbtz5n). Ultimately, the SSA makes the final choice. You can submit your advance designation request when you apply for SSA benefits or if you are already receiving benefits.
Who can serve as your payee? "We try to select someone who knows you and wants to help you," states the SSA's FAQs. "Our main concern is that your payee is someone who can see you often and knows what you need. For that reason, if you live with someone who helps you, we usually select that person to be your payee." Other possible options for a payee include social service agencies, nursing homes or other organizations.
To apply to be a representative payee, you will need to contact your local Social Security office and complete form SSA-11 ("Request to be Selected as Payee"). You also will be required to show documents that prove your identity. The SSA points out that you will need to supply your Social Security number (or an Employer Identification Number, if you represent an organization), and "(u)sually, you must complete the payee application with us face-to-face." You can find your local office at ssa.gov/locator.
The SSA provides guides for organizational (tinyurl.com/yj4ea2r4) and individual (tinyurl.com/5bnyajak) payees. A monthly beneficiary accounting ledger is also available (tinyurl.com/yb4ryhek).
The SSA Annual Statistical Supplement 2024 indicated that nearly 4.7 million beneficiaries (out of a total of 67 million) had a representative payee, with 3.4 million being children under the age of 18 (tinyurl.com/mc32e7my). Of the 50 million retired workers, more than 500,000 had one.
Understanding the role of a representative payee -- and the limitations of a POA for Social Security -- serves as one more "need to know" element of a well-thought-out estate plan -- something that can help address the unexpected.
Seasoned investment counsel (tinyurl.com/52nus8hz) and award-winning columnist and author, Julie Jason, JD, LLM, promotes financial literacy and investor protection. Read her latest book, "The Discerning Investor: Personal Portfolio Management in Retirement for Lawyers (and Their Clients)" (tinyurl.com/4u7h9pjs), published by the American Bar Association. Write to Julie at readers@juliejason.com. While all questions cannot be answered, each email is read and reviewed and can lead to discussion in a future column.
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