A federal grand jury in Tucson has indicted Ruffin Alford III, 48, on a charge that he kept $104,013 in Social Security benefits deposited into his deceased mother’s bank account between October 2020 and August 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said on September 16. An indictment is a formal accusation, not a finding, and Alford is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The case puts a plain rule in front of families: Social Security says benefits paid for the month of death and every month after must go back to the agency, and a deposit that keeps arriving does not change that.
What Social Security says about a deposit after a death
The practical question for a family settling an estate is what to do with a deposit that lands after a parent has died. Social Security’s answer is to send it back through the bank and report the death. The agency adds that eligible family members may be able to receive survivors benefits for the month the beneficiary died, but that is a separate benefit the agency decides, not the original payment kept by whoever has access to the account.
Social Security says the payment for the month of death, and every payment after it, goes back to the agency. The Social Security Check Protection Kit includes a first-week checklist for when a spouse dies, including not spending the payment for the month of death…