Social Security is claiming I was overpaid $3K in survivor benefits — but I never got any money. What do I do?

When you are told you overpaid Social Security benefits, you have an obligation to pay back the money. This can be really frustrating, especially if you didn’t recall receiving any money in the first place.

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This is the scenario Jordan faces. Having lost her parent as a 17-year-year old, Jordan was receiving just over $1,000 per month for just over a year, for a total of about $15,000. But now, Social Security is saying Jordan was overpaid by $3,000.

Complicating matters is that Jordan never received these payments and she’s wondering how she can be responsible for paying back something she was owed but never received. So, what can she do about the situation?

To start, Jordan needs to get a clear idea of how much she was rightfully owed and where the money went to better understand what her options are.

Here is the information Jordan should have had at the time of her parent’s death.

What are Social Security survivor benefits?

To understand what happened with her money, Jordan first needs to understand what survivor benefits are, how they work and what happens to them when the beneficiary is still a minor.

If a parent passes away, and you’re unmarried and either under 18, under 19 and a full-time student in high school, or have been disabled since you were 21 or younger, you may be eligible to receive Social Security survivor benefits.

**Read more: Here are 5 ‘must have’ items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you?

However, as the Social Security Administration explains, if you are under 18, these benefits will be paid to your representative payee because you are a minor presumed incapable of managing the funds yourself.

It sounds like Jordan’s representative payee never informed Jordan that she was receiving these benefits, nor did they inform her how these funds were being managed on her behalf.

If Jordan had a surviving parent, chances are good that they did collect this money on Jordan’s behalf. Unfortunately, if Jordan ended up getting overpaid benefits, even if the money went to her representative payee and she didn’t know about it, she could still be liable for repaying the extra amount.

What to do if Social Security says you were overpaid

Social Security overpayments happen if you receive more money than you should have. Overpayments can happen if:

• You earned more than you estimated.

• There was a change in your marital status or living situation.

• Your resources exceed the allowed amount.

• You don’t report changes to Social Security that would affect your benefit amount.

• Social Security incorrectly calculates your benefit.

• You don’t qualify for benefits anymore, but they are still sent to you.

Whenever this occurs, Social Security sends a notice explaining that you were overpaid and that you have to pay the money back within 30 days. If you don’t, Social Security may withhold payments from other benefits — although you do have the right to appeal an overpayment notice.

Unfortunately, it may be hard to figure out if your representative payee got overpaid (depending on when you started receiving these benefits, you may be looking at years of missed information).

Are you responsible for overpayment even if you received it as a child?

Assuming that your representative payee did get overpaid on your behalf, then the next question is: what happens?

If you’re an adult receiving Social Security benefits and you get more than your share, it seems obvious you’d be responsible for paying it back. Things get more complicated if children are receiving survivor benefits.

Unfortunately, this can happen fairly often. Between June 1993 and September 2015, the Social Security Administration identified 113,633 cases where overpayments were made to beneficiaries who were minors. These overpayments often occurred because the minors weren’t eligible for benefits in some of the months they were paid.

When it does happen, the Social Security Administration says that child beneficiaries are “equally liable” for overpayments, meaning they share legal responsibility with the representative payee. In other words, you could be on the hook to repay money you never received.

Can you contest Social Security overpayment claims?

As unfair as it may be, Social Security’s rules say you are typically responsible for overpayments made to you as a child. However, the Social Security rules also list some exemptions. For example, Social Security won’t presume you’re liable for overpaid benefits you received as a child if [2]:

• The representative payee misuses the benefits.

• If the representative payee kept collecting the benefits after you (the child) were no longer in their care.

Outside of these situations, Social Security will use “authorized and available collection tools to recover the overpayment from the childhood beneficiary.” In many cases, overpayments are recovered by withholding other Social Security benefits or collecting installment payments.

If you believe your representative payee misused the benefits, you can try to appeal your liability for overpayment by submitting a form online. Failing that, if Social Security says you are responsible, you can ask the agency to waive or not collect the overpayment or to allow you to pay back the amount at a different rate to avoid hardship.

These individual requests can be made by completing and submitting the following forms:

If you make a request for your case to be reviewed, Social Security will pause recovery on the overpayment until things have been sorted out. You’ll need to provide the necessary information for Social Security to make a decision in your favor. If you can prove that the representative payee misused the money, then you may not have to pay it back in the end.

Unfortunately, if you can’t show the funds were misused, you are likely responsible for the overpayment and have to repay it unless you can show hardship. If you don’t pay it back, or negotiate an acceptable repayment plan [3], the money could be taken out of your future Social Security checks or even from your tax refund or wages. Ignoring repayment requests can also impact credit scores, so it’s important to take this seriously.

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[1]. Social Security Administration. “Understanding Supplemental Security Income Overpayments — 2025 Edition”

[2]. Social Security Administration. “Recovering Title II Overpayments Made to Childhood Beneficiaries”

[3]. Social Security Administration. “Repay overpaid benefits”

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.