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GN 00501.013: Explanations for Types of Payees

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  • Effective Dates: 05/12/2016 - Present
  • Effective Dates: 04/09/2018 - Present
  • TN 4 (03-11)
  • GN 00501.013 Explanations for Types of Payees
  • NOTE: The descriptions for types of payees and types of custodians are the same.
  • In the Electronic Representative Payee System, we no longer use the custody code “PYE” (payee is custodian). An explanation of the various types of payees are in GN 00501.013A.
  • A. Types of payees
  • 1. Individual payees
  • The types of individual payees are:
  • PAYEES
  • EXPLANATION
  • Spouse
  • The wife or husband of the beneficiary. This includes a “de facto,” “common-law,” or “holding out” spouse.
  • Father
  • The natural or adoptive father of the beneficiary.
  • Mother
  • The natural or adoptive mother of the beneficiary.
  • Stepfather
  • The spouse of the child's natural or adoptive mother.
  • Stepmother
  • The spouse of the child's natural or adoptive father.
  • Grandparent
  • The grandmother or grandfather of the beneficiary. This includes an adoptive grandparent, step-grandparent, or great-grandparent.
  • Child
  • The son or daughter of the beneficiary. This includes a stepchild.
  • Relative
  • Any other person not described above who is related to the beneficiary by blood or marriage.
  • Other (Individual)
  • Any person not described above. This includes, but is not restricted to:
  • * a friend,
  • * an unrelated “volunteer” payee,
  • * an unrelated guardian,
  • * a room and board provider, and
  • * an applicant or payee normally classified as an organization, but has no Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • 2. Types of institutional payees
  • Institutional payees are an organizational payee subgroup. The types of institutional payees are:
  • PAYEES
  • EXPLANATION
  • Federal
  • An institution funded and operated by an entity of the federal government. A typical example is a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) hospital.
  • State and Local
  • An institution funded and operated by a State or local government. Typical examples are State psychiatric institutions, county developmental centers for individuals with Intellectual Disability and State hospitals.   NOTE: We classify all onsite review institutions listed as State and local mental institutions, and code them as "SLM."   REMEMBER: An onsite review institution can only be established or updated in the Representative Payee System (RPS) by the Office of Income Security Programs (OISP), Office of Rep Payee and Due Process (ORPDP), Representative Payee Team
  • Private, For-Profit
  • A private or for-profit is an institution operated by an individual or corporation to make a profit. Examples of these institutions are: privately owned nursing homes, board and care homes, and extended care facilities.
  • Non-profit
  • Non-profit means any not-for-profit, non-governmental institution. Typical examples are homes operated by religious organizations and charities.
  • Institutional Payee Subtypes
  • Each type of institutional applicant/payee is further classified as either:
  • * a mental facility, which cares primarily for individuals with mental disorders, or
  • * a non-mental (or other) facility, which cares primarily for individuals with physical disorders.
  • 3. Other types of organizational payees
  • PAYEES
  • EXPLANATION
  • Financial Organization
  • This category includes banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, and other similar organizations, whose primary purpose is to handle money.
  • Agency
  • Social Agency
  • An agency is a non-custodial entity providing "social service" types of assistance to the community. Examples of agencies include a State or county Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, and United Way agencies.  
  • NOTE: For coding purposes, we make no distinction between governmental and private sector agencies.
  • Official
  • An official is an agent of a State or other governmental entity. An official is an organizational payee because he or she performs "official" duties as a job function rather than as an individual in the community. An official can work for the governmental entity and can be elected or appointed to that government position. Officials are typically public guardians, officers of the court, and other similar positions. When the official is a Canadian statutory guardian, see GN 00505.019.
  • Other (Organization)
  • This category contains any other organization not mentioned above. This designation is rarely used.
  • NOTE: The implementation of the RPS has also presented type of payee (top) coding problems unique to our public administrators. The organization often meets both the definition of a legal guardian (individual) and the public official (organizational) type of payee.
  • B. Procedure for determining the relationship between the payee and beneficiary
  • Carefully determine the type of payee which best describes the relationship between the payee and the beneficiary and code the proper Type of Payee.
  • Check the previous payee code. If the relationship code between the payee and beneficiary is incorrect, make the necessary changes.
  • C. References
  • * SM 01005.380, and SM 01301.625 Representative Payee
  • * SI 00501.152 Explanation of “holding out” spouse,
  • * GN 00502.112 Identifiers for eRPS, and Electronic Representative Payee System
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