Power of Attorney and Social Security for a Grandchild: What It Does and Doesn't Do

A Power of Attorney Does Not Work for Social Security

This is one of the most common and costly misunderstandings in kinship care. A grandparent obtains a power of attorney — sometimes spending hundreds of dollars through LegalZoom or a family attorney — expecting it to authorize them to receive and manage a grandchild's Social Security benefits.

It doesn't. The Social Security Administration does not recognize powers of attorney as authority to manage benefit payments for another person. This applies to every type of POA: general, limited, durable, and springing. It also applies to joint bank accounts, court-appointed guardianships, and any other state-level legal authority.

The SSA has its own system for designating who receives and manages a beneficiary's funds, and that system is representative payee appointment.

What You Actually Need: Representative Payee Status

To receive and manage Social Security or SSI payments on behalf of a minor grandchild, you must be appointed as the child's representative payee by the SSA itself. This requires:

1. Filing Form SSA-11-BK (Request to be Selected as Payee)
2. Completing a suitability interview — conducted in person at a field office or by phone
3. Completing identity and suitability checks — the SSA evaluates your identity and suitability for appointment

The SSA uses a preference hierarchy when selecting a representative payee for a child. Custodial parents are preferred first, followed by legal guardians, and then close relatives who demonstrate active caregiving. A grandparent who is the child's primary caregiver and can document physical custody typically ranks high on this list.

Why the SSA Ignores Powers of Attorney

Federal Social Security law operates independently from state family court systems. A parent can grant you a power of attorney, and a state court can grant guardianship or custody — but those state-law arrangements do not authorize you to manage Social Security benefits.

The representative payee system exists because the SSA needs to verify, on its own terms, that the person managing a vulnerable beneficiary's funds is suitable. The payee takes on specific federal obligations: using funds for the child's current maintenance (food, shelter, clothing, medical care) and conserving any surplus in an interest-bearing account titled in the child's name. For an SSI Dedicated Account, the payee must complete Form SSA-6233-BK annually and account for restricted expenditures.

A state-law power of attorney and an SSA representative payee appointment are separate authorities; the SSA evaluates and appoints the payee directly.

What a Power of Attorney Is Good For

A POA isn't useless — it just doesn't do what many grandparents think it does regarding Social Security. Depending on state law and the document, a power of attorney signed by a parent may authorize you to:

• Enroll the child in school
• Consent to medical treatment

These are state-level functions that many grandparents genuinely need, especially those without formal court custody. But they're a separate track entirely from Social Security benefit management.

What to Do Instead

If you're raising a grandchild and the child is entitled to Social Security or SSI benefits:

1. File for representative payee status using Form SSA-11-BK at your local field office or by calling 1-800-772-1213
2. Bring proof of your caregiving role — school records showing your address, medical records, lease agreements, anything demonstrating the child lives with you
3. Don't wait for the POA to come through first — the two processes are independent, and delays in filing cost back-payment months

If you've already been receiving benefit deposits through an informal arrangement, apply to SSA to be appointed as representative payee. An informal arrangement does not make you the SSA-appointed payee or authorize you to manage the benefits.

The Social Security Benefits for Grandchildren guide includes a complete representative payee application walkthrough, interview preparation scripts, and the accounting templates you'll need for annual reporting — everything the POA doesn't cover.

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