Can social security payments be reactivated if they were initially declined by the recipient?

April 7, 2010 4:36 PM

Can social security payments be reactivated if they were initially declined by the recipient?

When a certain relative (in the U.S.) retired over a decade ago, they declined to receive any SS payments. They did this because the payment was going to only be about $10 (or less) a month and they didn't think it was worth the hassle to get the $10/month. (A majority of their working life was spent working for the government and thus they receive a government pension.)

They were a bit confused when they received an economic recovery payment last year since that payment was for certain people who receive Social Security benefits (or a few other benefits). Receiving the check implied that they are still "in the system" and got them wondering if they could start getting the $10/month payments.

Is it possible that they can now start receiving payments? I don't have much information on how they initially declined the benefits.

I know eventually they may need to just pop into an SS office, but the nearest one is 25+ miles away and the person is 80+ years old. I'd like to gather information before sending them to an office. The ssa.gov site doesn't seem to have the info I'm looking for.

posted by 1001 questions to Work & Money (2 answers total)

The people at the SS 800 number have been very helpful for me, when I was asking similar questions for someone else. Of course, they will only get into specific details about someone else if the right forms have been signed, etc., but in general they've been informative. I suggest you try calling, but be prepared for a fairly long time on hold so use a speaker phone if you can.
posted by anadem at 5:33 PM on April 7, 2010

It also looks like they can apply for their benefits online here. I'm assuming, when you said they "declined" their social security benefits, you mean that they decided not to apply for them. To my knowledge, you only get the benefits when you request them, which you can do anytime after you turn 62.
posted by DrGail at 5:41 PM on April 7, 2010