No one likes being controlled by money- No one. Some of what happens
when you receive a diagnosis of a mental illness is that it limits your
ambitions, freedoms, and your ability to become employed. In fact, after
adverse medicines and the loss of freedom to smoke, money is a big cause of
anxiety to the mentally ill. Even beyond that, many times worse is when
you finally learn to live inside a budget it gets even smaller. So, when
you have a payee that refuses to be transparent, it is time to speak
up, speak out, and hold them accountable.
I had a difficult payee. I am still waiting for an audit to happen. First, I thought changing payees was a good thing. And, well, as luck had it, I changed payees and was happy with the solution. But changing payees is only one option. A few days ago, I got the go ahead to become my own payee again. There was a long process getting there and I will try to explain. I had to have a payee for over one year. During that time, I changed payees to see if the manipulations would stop. Some did, and some became new ways to use money to manipulate. I call this form of abuse- emotional blackmail.
I learned from Social Security (the day I was there to change to being my own payee) that if your payee is keeping money from you that you are due, there is a process through the Social Security system where you have the right to file a formal complaint at your local Social Security office. At the office they will have you sign a third-party waiver. What this means is that Social Security will scrutinize and hold the difficult payee to an audit. If anything is found in error with the audit, Social Security will then hold legal proceedings (but you will receive only the money taken from you). Anything over what was lost goes to Social Security. In other words, Social Security is the plaintiff and your difficult payee is the defendant and you get nothing from the lawsuit.
If Social Security finds moneys that are yours, they will begin a process of righting the wrong that the payee did with your money. In other words, you should finally receive the money that is due to you that the payee withheld. For this to happen though, you need to go to your local Social Security office and formally file a complaint through them so something can be done about it. If you don’t do this, then the difficult payee will continue to be a difficult payee.
If you are not able to go to your local Social Security office, you might want to ask a counselor or call your advocate to help you. But remember, the first thing to do is get away from the bad payee and find a way to change to a new payee. You don’t have to wait to be your own payee to file a formal complaint. Your advocate might be able to help you. Listen to what they suggest and remember that the process takes a while.
Here is Social Security.
It helps to use a local office number instead of the national number. Click on it to find the number to your local office,
and you will be helped much sooner.
If you need an advocate go to Jewish Family Services for any contact info. They work with all patients and you do not have to be Jewish to receive help.
I had a difficult payee. I am still waiting for an audit to happen. First, I thought changing payees was a good thing. And, well, as luck had it, I changed payees and was happy with the solution. But changing payees is only one option. A few days ago, I got the go ahead to become my own payee again. There was a long process getting there and I will try to explain. I had to have a payee for over one year. During that time, I changed payees to see if the manipulations would stop. Some did, and some became new ways to use money to manipulate. I call this form of abuse- emotional blackmail.
I learned from Social Security (the day I was there to change to being my own payee) that if your payee is keeping money from you that you are due, there is a process through the Social Security system where you have the right to file a formal complaint at your local Social Security office. At the office they will have you sign a third-party waiver. What this means is that Social Security will scrutinize and hold the difficult payee to an audit. If anything is found in error with the audit, Social Security will then hold legal proceedings (but you will receive only the money taken from you). Anything over what was lost goes to Social Security. In other words, Social Security is the plaintiff and your difficult payee is the defendant and you get nothing from the lawsuit.
If Social Security finds moneys that are yours, they will begin a process of righting the wrong that the payee did with your money. In other words, you should finally receive the money that is due to you that the payee withheld. For this to happen though, you need to go to your local Social Security office and formally file a complaint through them so something can be done about it. If you don’t do this, then the difficult payee will continue to be a difficult payee.
If you are not able to go to your local Social Security office, you might want to ask a counselor or call your advocate to help you. But remember, the first thing to do is get away from the bad payee and find a way to change to a new payee. You don’t have to wait to be your own payee to file a formal complaint. Your advocate might be able to help you. Listen to what they suggest and remember that the process takes a while.
Here is Social Security.
It helps to use a local office number instead of the national number. Click on it to find the number to your local office,
and you will be helped much sooner.
If you need an advocate go to Jewish Family Services for any contact info. They work with all patients and you do not have to be Jewish to receive help.