Social Security reached out after my father died saying he was owed benefits – what should I do next?

Social Security is the largest budget item in the United States annually, serving more than 70 million people with retirement, disability, and supplemental income. The importance of this program cannot be understated, as it helps tens of millions every year. 

Given Social Security’s importance, it’s not uncommon for it to be the source of phishing scams targeting the elderly or mourners. Posting in r/SocialSecurity, one Redditor received a letter from the Social Security Administration, which immediately raised some red flags. 

While it’s sad that we must be so skeptical of everything we receive via snail mail or email, the saying “better safe than sorry” is very much a phrase to live by. 

Social Security Mail

In this particular instance, the original poster is an individual receiving mail on behalf of their father, who recently passed away. As the father had previously been denied Social Security benefits for over a decade, receiving a snail mail communication indicating the father was now eligible for Social Security benefits immediately set off warning bells. 

First and foremost, they were unaware that the Social Security Administration still sends traditional mail, which it very much does. Secondly, with the father being denied entitlements for so many years, there is a definite concern that something wasn’t right. 

The son is the only living relative of the father, who had no spouse, and he was the only child, so it stands to reason that he would receive the mail as next of kin. The father, a firefighter for 30 years in Kansas, did not receive Social Security benefits due to the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. 

Unfortunately, Social Security benefits were reduced or not available for anyone who worked in the public sector, such as the fire department, which was eligible to receive both a pension and Social Security. It wasn’t uncommon for firefighters to be affected by the law, which was repealed on January 5, 2025. 

What’s The Next Step

The good news is that even though the Social Security Administration still sends snail mail, it has offices nationwide that enable it to speak to people in person. When Redditors saw this post, they immediately advised the original poster to stop by their local Social Security office and verify the letter. 

As it turns out, this is precisely what this Redditor did, and it was genuine, and the father would have been eligible to receive benefits. The result is that the son can now collect on the father’s benefits thanks to the Social Security Fairness Act, which became the law of the land in January 2025. 

This law now enables those working or who have previously worked in the public sector, like firefighters, police, teachers, and other public officials, to receive Social Security benefits and pensions. 

This means the individual in this post can provide the information the letter asks for, drop it into the mailbox, or hand it in in person. Most Social Security Administration satellite offices have a dropbox that you can use to hand in paperwork. The good news is that it’s very safe to do so, and this is precisely what the original poster intends to do. 

The good news is that even amidst the high probability that something like this could have been a scam, it turned out to be very real. However, let this be a lesson: a little extra legwork likely saved this Redditor some time and peace of mind. 

The other good news is that because of the new January 2025 law, the father will likely receive a windfall reimbursement as he passed away at the end of January. If back pay becomes a reality, the original poster might receive a financial gift they would understandably be grateful for, as their father would have been thrilled to know that it was received and being spent by their sole living survivor. 

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