My retirement benefits stopped while I was incarcerated. How do I restart them?

Before release:

    Once you know your release date, notify your correctional counselor (or another staff member at your facility) that you want to restart your Social Security benefits. It’s best to start this process at least 3 months before your release date.[1672]
    If your facility has a pre-release agreement:
    should be available to help you complete and submit the necessary paperwork in a timely way.[1673]
    If your facility doesn’t offer pre-release assistance—and or you have trouble working with staff:
    Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778) to notify Social Security that you were getting retirement benefits before you got incarcerated, and you want your benefits to restart as soon as possible after your release. The toll-free line is open Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Be prepared to provide your Social Security number and release date. A representative will set a post-release appointment for you at a local Social Security office, ask you to provide official release documents, and tell you what else you need to do.[1674]
    If Social Security’s automated phone system doesn’t accept your call, you should ask a non-incarcerated family member to call as an Authorized Representative (“AR”) on your behalf (use the form in Appendix G PG. 518 to appoint a family member as an AR).
    You can also ask a friend, family member, or trusted advocate to communicate with Social Security about your benefits on your behalf. Remember that you have a right to appoint any individual—such as a friend, family member, attorney, or social worker—to act as your representative in the application process. To do so, use the form in Appendix G on PG. 523.[1675]

After release:

    Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778) to notify Social Security that you were released from prison and want to restart your retirement benefits. Be prepared to provide your Social Security number. A representative will set an appointment for you at a local Social Security office, ask you to bring your official release documents, and tell you what else you need to do.[1676]

IMPORTANT: You can’t get back-payments of Social Security for the months you spent in prison or jail.[1677] In other words, you can never collect retirement checks you otherwise would have gotten if you weren’t incarcerated. However, you should be able to collect back-payments dating back to the month following the month of your release. For example, if you were released on October 10, 2014, you can start receiving retirement benefits again starting November 2014. Since monthly Social Security benefits are paid 1 month after they’re due, you can collect your November retirement check in December 2014.[1678]

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  1. 1672

    See Benefits After Incarceration, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/; Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf.

  2. 1673

    What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf; Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf.

  3. 1674

    Your Right to Representation (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf. What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf; Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf

  4. 1675

    Your Right to Representation, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10075.pdf

  5. 1676

    Benefits After Incarceration, Soc. Sec. Admin. http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/; What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf

  6. 1677

    42 U.S.C. § 1382

  7. 1678

    What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf