In July 2025, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on a Wisconsin woman whose family feared her representative payee might have misused her funds.
Representative payees are responsible for aiding people who are incapable of managing their Social Security or Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, payments. The funds are most commonly used to address housing bills, medical payments or other living expenses.
According to the Social Security Administration, more than eight million people who receive the monthly payments require assistance managing their finances, necessitating the designation of representative payees.
However, in recent years, the program has faced scrutiny for slow response times to accusations of misuse of funds.
A 2023 audit found the agency continued paying an estimated $186 million to payees who may not have been using the funds for beneficiaries’ needs. In addition, a sample of 50 cases found that the agency failed to recover nearly $120,000 in funds from 19 payees who were determined to have misused benefits.
Here’s what you need to know about representative payees and how to complain if you think funds are being misused.
What is a representative payee and how are they selected?
Representative payees are the designated recipient of a Social Security beneficiary’s payments. They are also known as protective payees or substitute payees.
In their role, these individuals are granted authority to use funds on the beneficiary’s behalf with the expectation of working in their best interest.
The Social Security Administration often seeks family members or friends to serve as payees. If a family member or friend is unable to serve in the role, the SSA seeks out people employed by “qualified organizations” such as social service agencies, institutions, and state or local government agencies.
What are the expectations for representative payees?
The Social Security Administration’s representative payee guide details that payees are responsible for:
Managing funds so beneficiaries have no unmet current needs
Accounting for all funds received and spent
Conserving any unspent funds in an appropriate manner
Complying with representative payee accounting and reporting responsibilities
Are representative payees paid for their work?
Individual representative payees, such as family members and friends, are not allowed to receive payments or charge a fee for fulfilling payee services.
Organizational representative payees are allowed to collect a fee to serve their beneficiary if approved by the Social Security Administration. If approved, the cost of service is pulled from the beneficiary’s monthly Social Security or Supplemental Security Income payment.
Organizations must regularly provide representative payee services to at least five beneficiaries at a time and not be a creditor lending service with the expectation of repayment.
How do representative payees track and report spending?
Representative payees are responsible for maintaining records regarding their spending of Social Security benefits. However, they are not required to produce those records unless requested by the Social Security Administration, such as for an audit.
Audits can be initiated at random or through a formal review. According to experts, they are rare.
“You’re holding them in anticipation of having to prove it, but you don’t actually have to prove constantly what you spent the money on,” said Nadya Rosen, interim director of legal and advocacy services at Disability Rights Wisconsin.
What to do if you suspect a representative payee is misusing funds
The Social Security Administration recommends having a conversation with your representative payee about how your money is being spent.
In this conversation, a beneficiary, a family member or a trusted representative can request that the payee show how much money has been received from the Social Security Administration and provide receipts or evidence of those purchases.
You should then inform your payee how the money could be allocated to better accommodate your needs.
If you suspect the payee is misusing your benefits, alert the Social Security Administration immediately. The agency is required to follow up with a letter detailing what they have found.
If misuse is confirmed by the agency, they can assist you in finding a new representative payee or send you funds directly.
If my money was misused, can I get it back?
According to the Social Security Administration, after every misuse allegation, steps are taken to recover misused money.
However, a 2023 audit that sampled 50 misuse investigations found the SSA did not properly and timely reissue $47,035 in misused benefits to 19 beneficiaries, as required.
Where else can I file a complaint about a representative payee in Wisconsin?
If you are concerned that a representative payee is misusing a beneficiary’s funds, a number of Wisconsin agencies can investigate:
Disability Rights Wisconsin fields complaints about representative payee misuse and can be contacted at info@drwi.org or 800-928-8778.
The state Department of Health Services, an oversight body for many organizational representative payee programs, recommends reporting concerns as soon as questions about improper spending arise.
People who have concerns about a payee responsible for an individual in a nursing home, residential care facility, behavioral health program, mental health treatment program, or substance use treatment program. Complaints can be filed with the Department of Quality Assurance.
The Department of Health Services’ Client Rights Office fields complaints for people receiving services for a developmental disability, mental health, or substance use—in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
If the individual is in a Medicaid long term care program such as IRIS or Family Care, complaints can be filed with their IRIS consultant agency or family care managed care organization for additional assistance.
Tamia Fowlkes is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at tfowlkes@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Social Security payees, filing complaints in Wisconsin