DISABLED DEPENDENT COVERAGE

i am a paraplegic and i have lived with my grandmother for 20 years and am dependent on her financial assistance. she passed away two years ago and after she died her OWCP monthly pension money kept coming but instead of being mailed in her first and last name it now included the word ESTATE in between her first and last name.  first name, ESTATE, last name.  i have continued to receive this payment this way and now exactly two years from the date of her death, the last payment has been reversed and taken out of her account.  i am dependedent on this money to live and cannot even afford my appartment.  how do i go about getting this or setting it up so that i can receive this money under the disable dependent grandchild coverage, or can i even get this coverage..  i really dont have much knowledge about it.  i would greatly appreciate anyones input

I am no expert but from what little research I did grandchildren are not dependents when it comes to death benefits.  In order to claim death benefits through OWCP the claimant must file a claim within 3 years of the federal worker's death and show that the death was directly related to the work injury.  Eligible dependents are generally spouse and children.  

The second issue could be that her pension fund was exhausted and there is no more money in it.  If the amount she had saved is depleted there is no obligation for the government to continue sending the checks.  

You need to start researching options.  There is the very real possibility that you were not entitled to the other funds and the government may come looking to get that amount back as well.  There are a couple of others a little more familiar with OWCP that may be able to provide a more detailed answer.

Not clear whether your grandmother was receiving an OWCP death benefit or disabity benefits.

In order for a grandchild to qualify, you likely would have to establish that your inability to support yourself arose before your 18th birthday in addition to proving that her death was related to her work injury (if a disability case).

If she was receiving death benefits from your grandfather's on the job death, then your eligibility to share in the benefit would need to have been established at the time of your grandfather's death and it does not sound as if such occurred.

You may qualify for SSI. I would get down to the SSA office pronto.

my grandfather died two weeks before i became disabled and i was 19 years old.  my grandmother died two years ago , but right afrter her death the payment starting coming in the name HER FIRST NAME, ESTATE, MCGINTY, instead of HER FIRST NAME, LAST NAME.  it now has the word ESTATE in between her first and last name.  this indicated to me that they knew that she was dead.  now two years later i received a letter stating that they have just received information that she is desceased and that they want all the money returned. i have had no contact with them other than the letter that just came and that lettter was from the banking instition which my grandmother did her banking with.

wheels7:

i became disabled and i was 19 years old.

There in lies the problem:  you were not a minor when you were disabled.  You were an adult fully responsible for yourself.  

wheels7:

now two years later i received a letter stating that they have just received information that she is desceased and that they want all the money returned.

If you were not legally entitled to the payments they can seek to have it returned.  It appears by your age that you are not eligible to continue receiving her payments even if she was deceased.  I can't explain the two year delay other than the government bureaucracy grinds slowly.  

wheels7:

i have had no contact with them other than the letter that just came and that lettter was from the banking instition which my grandmother did her banking with.

You need to contact them and find out why they are reversing the payments and how much they want back.  If you don't it could delay your receiving other government benefits until you do clear the matter up.  The government could seek to offset what is owed from any benefits you might be allowed under SSI or SSDI.

do you have any idea why the word ESTATE was added after her death

wheels7:

do you have any idea why the word ESTATE was added after her death

I do not.  The problem is that even with the word "estate" on the check doesn't mean that she was actually entitled to the money.  The government frequently makes these kinds of mistakes in overpaying benefits.  They can get them back.  You may wish to consult a lawyer:  there is the slim possibility that because the check said "estate" that the government would have to recover the money from the estate itself.  That chance is REMOTE and you won't accomplish it without guidance from a lawyer to ensure you do it correctly.  

my grandfather died two weeks before i became disabled and i was 19 years old. my grandmother died two years ago , but right afrter her death the payment starting coming in the name HER FIRST NAME, ESTATE, MCGINTY, instead of HER FIRST NAME, LAST NAME. it now has the word ESTATE in between her first and last name. this indicated to me that they knew that she was dead. now two years later i received a letter stating that they have just received information that she is desceased and that they want all the money returned. i have had no contact with them other than the letter that just came and that lettter was from the banking instition which my grandmother did her banking with.

Repeating it doesn't change the answers.  

1) you were legally an adult when you became disabled.  It has NOTHING to do with when your grandfather passed.  If you were not disabled as a minor then as Kivi said you have no claim to the benefits as a grandchild if you were not disabled at least two weeks prior to your 18th birthday AND the death was directly related to your grandmother's disability.

2) While one branch of the federal system may have realized your grandmother passed it does not mean the rest did and that she was entitled to the benefits.  You are going to have to contact them and find out WHY they are saying the money needs to be paid back.  What you fail to realize is that if you ignore this it can impact other federal funds you may be entitled to including your tax refunds.  

CONTACT THEM and find out what the reason(s) are for the denial and request two years later.  The last thing you want them doing is determining that you FRAUDULENTLY got the money.  If you contact them and they actually are due the money back that is your chance to arrange a payment plan.  If you ignore it they may force less than desirable solutions on you.

No matter what the odds on you getting these payments reinstated to you are zero.  You were legally an adult when disabled and therefore under the FERS system are not entitled to the benefits.

Do you  think it would be better to contact them or not, because i dont even know now if they even have any information about me.  how i accessed the money from my grandmothers account , like it was accessed several years before her death, was by a versatel machine using the versatel card.

Lets start over:  your grandmother died two years ago and the payments kept coming.  You withdrew them from her account using an ATM card.  Now two years later the payments stopped and the last one was reversed and a letter arrives stating the money has to be returned.  WHO was the letter addressed to?

Did you ever open probate on her estate?  Did she have a will?  Were you an authorized user on her account legally or did you just continue to use her bank account?  

The answers to these questions are VERY important.  

Did you ever open probate on her estate? no

Did she have a will? no

Were you an authorized user on her account legally or did you just continue to use her bank account? she allowed me to do her banking for her about the last ten years of her life, but im not sure if i am listed on her bank account , i dont think so, not sure. 

WHO was the letter addressed to? the letter was addressed to my grandmother

You need a lawyer.  You potentially have SERIOUS legal problems on your hands.  If you were not an authorized user on the account and continued to do so after her death that could be identity theft.  Especially withdrawing the funds that were part of the estate and using them for your own personal use.  While the letter is addressed to your grandmother it is possible that the government could ultimately come after you for fraudulently converting the funds for your use and not opening probate on her estate when she passed.  

Consult local counsel ASAP.

The org thread/questions here are over 2 weeks ago.   The more info you provide is just digging a deeper hole for you, and opening this up to more difficulties if you don't do something NOW.

The letter came from the bank, not OWCP as you have indicated... it's likely the various gov't agencies are not fully aware or sharing info on this account/claim.  The longer you wait to contact them... the bigger chance of a problem...especially if you continue to fraudlently use the ATM card... you are NOT a party to the account, even though your grandmother may have allowed you to do her banking. You are NOT entitled to those monies regardless of your relationship... at this point anyway.

CONTACT the agency TODAY.  And be ready to find another source for your income.