Dear Liz: My question has to do with a bulletin put out by the Social Security Administration last year requiring people with Social Security income to submit the name of a person to be their advanced designation representative. It also said that you need to submit a name for your ADR annually. Many people probably don’t know about this. But can you clarify? Is it just a preliminary or mandatory requirement? If mandatory then what are the consequences if you don’t designate someone?
Answer: When someone is a minor, incapacitated or otherwise unable to manage their own Social Security benefits, the Social Security Administration names a representative payee to handle the funds.
The voluntary Advanced Designation of Representative Payee program allows you to nominate people you trust to perform this role should you become incapacitated. You can choose up to three people as possible representative payees. You can change your nominations at any time and Social Security will ask you to review your choices annually to make sure you’re still comfortable with them (because, as we know, situations and people’s capacities can change over time).
If you do opt into the advanced designation program, your nominees won’t be a shoo-in. Social Security will prioritize your choices, but will still conduct a full evaluation to ensure they can handle the job.