Getting Help With SSI Applications and Representative Payees

This guide presents selected U.S. government consumer education from Social Security Administration. References to “we” or “us” in the source material refer to the issuing agency. Source dates and links appear below.

Representative Payee Program

What Is A Representative Payee?

A representative payee is a person, agency, organization, or institution we select to manage your benefits when we determine that you are unable to do so yourself or direct others to do it for you.  For more information on representative payees you can view the publication When a Representative Payee Manages Your Money at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10097.pdf on our website.

Before appointing a representative payee, we must evaluate medical and other types of evidence about your ability to manage your SSI benefits. 

Who Must Have A Representative Payee?

• Most children under the age of 18.
• Legally incompetent adults.
• Anyone we determine to be incapable of managing or directing the management of his or her benefits.

Who Can Serve As Your Representative Payee?

• Someone who is concerned with your welfare, usually a parent, spouse, close relative, guardian, or friend.
• An institution such as a nursing home or health care provider.
• A public or nonprofit agency, social service agency, or financial organization.
• Providers or administrative officers at shelters for homelessness.
• A community based non-profit agency that has been approved by Social Security to charge a fee for its service as a payee.

What Are Your Representative Payee'S Duties?

The most important duty of a representative payee is to know your needs and to use the benefits in your  best interests.  Your representative payee must first use your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for your current basic needs for food, clothing, housing, medical care, and personal comfort items.  After paying for your needs, your representative payee must save for you any money left, preferably in an interest-bearing bank account. 

Each year, we will ask certain representative payees to complete a Representative Payee Accounting Report showing how they spent and saved the money they received for you during the 12-month report period.

Your representative payee should respond on your behalf to any of our requests for action or information.  Common requests are the annual Representative Payee Accounting Report, the SSI redetermination of eligibility, or a request for a continuing disability review.

Your representative payee's authority is limited to matters between you and us.  A power of attorney does not give someone authority to act as your representative payee.  A representative payee has no authority to enter into any binding contracts on your behalf.

Your representative payee is responsible for reporting to us any changes in your circumstances that could affect your eligibility to benefits (income, resources, change of address, living arrangements, return to work, etc.).

You or your representative payee may, at any time, request that we change or terminate the payee arrangement. Following such a request, we will investigate the situation and make a determination.

IMPORTANT: Social Security needs volunteers to serve as representative payees.

If you would like more information, please visit our website at www.ssa.gov/payee or call your local Social Security office.

Also, please see the booklet, A Guide for Representative Payees at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10076.pdf on our website.

 

How Someone Can Help You With Your Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

You May Choose Somebody To Help You With:

• Completing forms;
• Calling your local Social Security office;
• Interpreting for you;
• Gathering and giving information;
• Taking you to medical examinations, tests, or contacting your local Social Security office; or
• Receiving mail for you at his or her address.
  

If You Want Help With Your Claim, You May Appoint A Representative To Help You:

• Complete and file forms;
• Gather information and file it with us;
• Review your file and understand the law;
• Get information from us about your claim, including notices and letters, just as you would;
• Represent you at informal or formal hearings;
• Give us evidence for you; or
• Help you with your appeals. (See our Chapter on the APPEALS PROCESS)
  

How Do You Appoint A Representative?

• You must name (or in other words “appoint”) your representative using our "Claimant’s Appointment of a Representative" form that both you and your representative must sign.  You can obtain it online at www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-1696.pdf or call us and ask for Form SSA-1696.
• Your representative does not have to be a lawyer, but he or she must have certain qualifications. For example, attorneys must be licensed, and all others must have good character and skills to help you. Also, the representative cannot be someone who is disqualified or suspended from representing individuals before us or is prohibited by law from acting as a representative.
• An appointedrepresentative's duties are different from those of a representative payee's.

If You Do Not Speak English Or Have Difficulty Speaking English

• We will provide an interpreter, at no cost to you, if you ask for one or if you need language assistance.
• You may use a bilingual family member, friend, or other third party to interpret for you, if they meet our requirements for a qualified interpreter.

For more information, see the SSI Spotlight on Interpreter Services.

If You Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing

• You may provide your own sign language interpreter, at no cost to us.
• If you prefer, we will provide you with a sign language interpreter, if needed, at no cost to you.

If You Think You Can'T Afford To Appoint A Representative

If you do not have a representative and we denied your case, we will give you a list of legal referral services, legal service organizations (for example, local bar associations, legal aid societies, legal service corporations, and law schools with legal aid programs), and community organizations in your area that may represent you or help you find a representative at no charge.

The representative you appoint may not charge you a fee that is more than the amount we authorize.

What We Will Ask You About

To decide whether you can get SSI, we will ask you about:

• your income;
• the things you own (resources);
• your living arrangements (where you live, with whom, who pays for things); and
• your citizenship or noncitizen status.

If you are age 65 or over, or a child under age 18, we will ask for proof of your age (unless you already receive Social Security benefits). If you are under age 18 and living with your parent(s), or if you are married and living with your spouse, we will also ask about his or her income and resources.

If you are applying because you are disabled or blind, we will complete a disability report. We will ask about your health problems, your treatment history, and how your health problems affect your daily activities.

We will also ask for all of your medical records from medical sources and request authorization from you to obtain those records.  You can also mail your medical records to your local Social Security office after you have filed your application.

You can complete the Child Disability Report at www.ssa.gov/childdisabilityreport if you are filing for a child.

Sources and publication details

• Representative Payee Program — Social Security Administration; source date: 2026 edition.
• How Someone Can Help You With Your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) — Social Security Administration; source date: 2026 edition.

The federal agency source text is U.S. government work in the public domain. Fynoptic selected, adapted, and formatted it for this guide. No agency endorsement is implied. Follow the linked sources for current program details and the rules applicable to your circumstances.