Why won't Social Security accept the POA my father executed prior to brain surgery?

Unfortunately, yes. I, too, was surprised to find out that Social Security doesn't recognize POA. I ran into that with the VA and other government agencies as well. You may want to ask the attorney who drew up the POA about options since your dad isn't cognitively able to handle these issues. I've always been baffled by these rules, but that's what they are. Good luck with this. We'd really like to find out how you get around this rule.
Take care,
Carol

Thanks Carol,
SSA told me I have to get a letter from his hospice doctor saying he is unable to do anything. That is in one town. Then I have to take the POA to the county courthouse with the letter & get it certified. It is in a different town. When all of that is done, I take it all back to SSA, in yet a 3rd town, & then they will appoint me as financial guardian. Full time caregivers have lots of time and energy to jump through hoops. It also means one has to hire someone to sit with the home bound while running around. Since I am the only caregiver locally, it is just ridiculous.
Because of this experience, I am taking my mother & husband, who are also disabled, to SSA the next time I go so they can appoint me their financial guardian before hand.
I think it is time for Congress to act. It is ridiculous to cause people these type of problems.

Unfortunately, the SSA does not recognize POA in any manner. I had to take my disabled 90+ year old dad to the office and sign a paper making me the payee! Although dad wanted a paper check or a banking account in his name only, they would not allow him to do so. Now, I have the burden of keeping a log of every bill that he owes, travel to doctor visits, food, care, etc., and etc. In my opinion, I think it has something to do with the debt that our country is in. SSA wants to make it as difficult as possible for anyone that is not able to handle their own affairs not to be able to collect the money that they paid into SSA all the years of their lives. I wish everyone going through this luck, because in my opinion, we are only going to see things get worse due to our country being in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression!

Try going on-line to do whatever you need to do. When you do this on-line....well who is to know who types in whatever. Years & years ago, I went with my mom to close down 2 different banks accounts so that all was just in 1 locally based banking group (She had 3 different banks, just too much paperwork, too confusing). One of the old banks got her direct deposit of SSA and her annuity. I went on-line and just changed the direct deposit to the locally based bank routing number. Problem solved with no SSA face-to-face involvement. See if you can do the same. Good luck.

I had trouble getting a copy of my mother's SS benefits letter that I HAD to have for Medicaid application. Same thing, they did not recognize POA. She has Alzheimer's. They sent her a letter at the nursing home where my sister who lives near her had her sign it then FAXed it to the Medicaid office. Same problem with VA. I am still trying to get her benefits letter from them. I had to make a call back appt. with VA, then he told me one form then said no, a different form. Neither one was specific to my problem. I tried filling out one requesting the info. My sister had my mother sign the form, then FAXed it to VA office. Haven't heard anything. I feel like it is floating in space somewhere. Now what do I do? I have no idea. And what happens when someone can't sign anymore? She has these benefits direct deposited into her accounts but Medicaid won't accept that. It is ridiculous and I agree that Congress should do something. If someone has POA and the person who consented to it is now incapacitated then they NEED that person with POA to be able to do these things for them. Insane bureaucracy!

I believe that the S.S. Administration feels that there is too much room for fraud in the appointment of a P.O.A. ( Attorney-in-Fact). First, I don't believe that there can be more than one. I may be incorrect on this.
An elder care lawyer should be employed and consulted frequently on all these issues.

Thought this might be useful to explain to all what the SSA requires of a "representative payee" ... also spells out a ton of important information to know if you are considering taking on this role for someone:

http://www.ssa.gov/payee/LessonPlan-2005-2.htm#WHATISPAYEE

Why can't you just have your name added onto her bank account if she is getting direct deposit from her SSA? That is what my mil did for she added her son's name onto her account that way, if we need to pay bills n etc for her we can withdraw it n take care of her needs. She has moderate Alzheimer's n he does have a POA as well.

notwellmyself................ I just re-read your initial question. I found out that you need to get the right person on the phone!!! Example there was one "minor"
(YEA SURE ...minor!!!) detail I needed to get my Mothers Medicaid application approved!!! The entire application was a breeze compared to this. It was proof of her Life Insurance Policy not being a cash withdrawal before death policy, I needed to prove that it only matured upon her death. Sounds simple right???? A piece of paper stating a fact! How could this be a problem, they had my POA papers, they had told me this was the type of policy over the phone, they said it does not say that this action was ranted on the POA papers. So I called and called and called and called about 100 x's) ... well lets say I wasn't going to stop, until I got a yes!!!! I explained the details of my situation every time, I told each person I spoke to on the phone to make a note of why and what I needed every time I called. Then I finally got a smart girl on the phone that noticed my persistence and the urgency of my Mom's life on hold for just a written letter with the fact stated. She said "well OK that's all you need?"... she understood !!!! I wasn't asking for money just a letter for Medicaid!!!! She commented on my persistence and apologized for all the hassle!!! I had the letter two days later!!!
Mom was kind of "stuck" in a locked in unit for seniors, not a pretty scene!!!
I needed her finances in order to move on with her care plan.
I also had a hard time with a certain billing department at that Hospital, no one would answer my questions, only the head of that dept. knew the answers and he was always too busy and he'd call back when I wasn't home and leave messages. They wanted payment but I needed to explain, my Mom's finances were being held up due to the improper wording on the POA. So I went personally to the office, by this time the two girls in the billing dept knew me WELL, we were on first name basis they recognized my voice by this time, they knew exactly what I needed to do, as they both heard my story over weeks of phone tag, but this was not their job. So I said "is he in?" they said" yes, but he's in a meeting" " I said I'm off ALL DAY GOT NOTHING BUT TIME (big fibber I was) .... I'll wait until he's got time to talk to me.... I just want to pay but can't at the moment." I guess billing dept.'s are not used to honest people hunting them down.... Well I sat there for not too long... I had my meeting and got more than I expected (he showed me in a 10 minute tour... what I needed which door to go to who to speak to etc.) all of what I needed to do to clear up the billing issue and get her released to a NH. I had many applications to fill out by different departments, because as it turned out Mom was so broke (explained in the application process, paper trail I had to give) that I paid the minimum she required for her income level etc.
One lady I spoke to after all was done, I had called to make sure no strings were left untied actually chuckled and said you're a commendable person, most people would have given up long ago!!!!
See I think you need to not waist time people (employees) that you know are no help to you (there's a lot of them out their), you need to state what your need or actions or reasons are clearly, to those who can help or those who are willing to do "their job" , know the right questions to ask and to whom.
If you hit a dead end take a road that gets you there!!!!

All we wanted was to get Daddy's address changed so we would get tax documents in the future and to get a printout of this past year's income so I could file their tax return. Nothing else. I'm already on his bank account and have been for almost 40years. That was not a problem.
I talked to the hospice people today & they are supposed to be getting the letter from the doctor I need.
Today I remembered what used to happen everytime we got a Congressional Inquiry when I worked for IRS. Management literally jumped thru hoops to get issues resolved. I have decided that is what I am going to have to do. SSA should not be making life more difficult for people who have given up their own lives to care for others. Even if I can't resolve this issue for myself I am going to do what I can to make things easier for those who follow me. Maybe I won't get anything changed, but maybe I will. I'll never know unless I try. I propose we all write our Congressional representatives and flood them with information on what it is like trying to cut thru the red tape with SSA.
I won't have to deal with Medicaid or any lookback periods. But, I have been extremely worried about the uninvolved brother coming in after Daddy & Mama have died and wanting to know how every penny has been spent. I was also worried about keeping all of the receipts, bank statements, etc so I could prove things. Eventually these things add up and fill up space. My sister had a talk with my mother about the record and receipt keeping. We are working on drawing up a codicil to the will saying that anyone, other than my sister, that questions where the money has gone or questions their fair share of the estate loses their right to inherit anything. A separate agreement is being drawn up that says I am only answerable to my mother and sister and they have 2 months from the end of a month to question any amounts expended for my parents. It will set up a schedule of the date receipts will be destroyed (except of course what has to be kept for IRS and the like). Once past that date, they are beyond audit. I have been spending almost as much time taking care of their business as I have been taking care of them. My own life, like most of yours, has been neglected taking care of theirs. Next on the agenda is to try to simplify their financial affairs. They do not need 3 checking accounts and savings at 5 financial institutions. Maybe more than 1 savings account is needed, but not 3 checking accounts.