How to report claim for amounts due in the case of a deceased beneficiary

Question

SSA states: A deceased beneficiary may have been due a Social Security payment at the time of death. A Social Security payment due a deceased beneficiary may be paid to a family member or a legal representative of the estate.

After completing the SSA form for collecting the payment, they sent a check payable to me on account of my deceased mother. Where should that be reported on my tax return? This is NOT a death benefit.

https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-1724.pdf

DennisR · Accepted Answer

Great question ~ this can be tricky since it's different from Survivor Benefits or a Death lump-sum payment.

Typically, SSA Benefits can be taxable depending on the income of the recipient. Whether taxable or not, these benefits generally need to be reported on a tax return. It's likely that there'll be a SSA-1099 disbursed in 2025 for these benefits, but that it will be in the name of your mother and will need to be reported on her final tax return.

Even if you don't receive the form in your name, or any other form reporting it, you can still claim the one-time payment on your return as normal SSA benefits received as long as you know how much you received. If you file with FreeTaxUSA, we'll be able to help determine the taxable amount, if any, of the payment you received.