What happens with my stimulus payment if I have a Representative Payee?

Authored By

Minnesota Disability Law Center

Last Updated

03/2022

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Last updated: June 9, 2020

Is my stimulus payment direct deposited into the account managed by my representative payee?

How should my representative payee use my stimulus payment?

The stimulus payment belongs to you. It is not a Social Security or SSI benefit. A representative payee should talk about the payment with you.

If you want to use the payment on your own, your representative payee should give it to you.

If you ask the representative payee for help to use the stimulus payment in a certain way or to save it, your representative payee can help you - but they are helping outside their role as your representative payee.

What if I think my representative payee didn’t use my stimulus payment how I wanted?

Your stimulus payment is not a Social Security or SSI benefit, so the SSA does not have authority to investigate or decide if the EIP has been misused.

But, if SSA gets a claim that someone’s payment wasn’t used on their behalf, SSA may decide to investigate for possible misuse of Social Security or SSI benefit payments. SSA may also decide the representative payee is no longer a good choice and can appoint a new one.

Contact SSA at 1-800-772-1213.

Or call the Minnesota Disability Law Center at 612-334-5970.

What if my representative payee won’t help me get my stimulus money?

What responsibilities does my representative payee have when it comes to my stimulus payment?

The Social Security Act says a representative payee is only responsible for managing Social Security or SSI benefits. Your stimulus payment is NOT one of these. Your representative payee should talk to you about your payment.

If you want to use your payment on your own, your representative payee should give it to you.

If you ask your representative payee for help to use your payment in a certain way, they can help you – but they are helping outside their role as your representative payee.

How should my representative payee report my stimulus payment when they are doing the annual Representative Payee Report (i.e., annual accounting form)?