Ombudsman assists man with settling estate of deceased daughter

Editor’s note: The Dayton Ombudsman Office provides weekly columns to the Dayton Daily News to bring awareness to issues it sees in the community.

A father contacted the Ombudsman for assistance with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) of his deceased daughter. The man explained that he was the executor of his daughter’s estate and had already been to probate court. The father mailed to the Ombudsman the court document and some other relevant documents. The man was trying to settle his daughter’s estate, and there were some funds in the daughter’s bank account which needed to be released. The father was attempting to have those released so the bank account could be closed, and the estate could be finalized. The man contacted the Social Security Administration (SSA) but was unable to obtain any information about his daughter’s bank from the agency. There are many reasons why such information is confidential and is not released by the agency.

The Ombudsman contacted the SSA and forwarded to staff the documents shared by the father of the deceased woman. With that information, staff at the SSA were pleased to assist the father and to release to him the banking account information he required. Several months of benefit payments totaling about $3500 were still in the account. The Ombudsman went a step further and provided the father with information about the local branch of the deceased daughter’s bank so that the father could go in person and close his daughter’s account. The father was very grateful for the assistance of the Ombudsman with this matter.

The Ombudsman Column, a production of the Joint Office of Citizens’ Complaints, summarizes selected problems that citizens have had with government services, schools and nursing homes in the Dayton area. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to us at 11 W. Monument Ave., Suite 606, Dayton 45402, call 937-223- 4613, or by electronic mail at ombudsman@dayton-ombudsman.org.

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