20 Cfr 725.513

§ 725.510

20 CFR Ch. VI (4–1–20 Edition)

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§ 725.510 Representative payee.
(a) If the district director determines
that the best interests of a beneficiary
are served thereby, the district director may certify the payment of such
beneficiary’s benefits to a representative payee.
(b) Before any amount shall be certified for payment to any representative payee for or on behalf of a beneficiary, such representative payee shall
submit to the district director such
evidence as may be required of his or
her relationship to, or his or her responsibility for the care of, the beneficiary on whose behalf payment is to
be made, or of his or her authority to
receive such a payment. The district
director may, at any time thereafter,
require evidence of the continued existence of such relationship, responsibility, or authority. If a person requesting representative payee status
fails to submit the required evidence
within a reasonable period of time
after it is requested, no further payments shall be certified to him or her
on behalf of the beneficiary unless the
required evidence is thereafter submitted.
(c) All benefit payments made to a
representative payee shall be available
only for the use and benefit of the beneficiary, as defined in § 725.511.
§ 725.511 Use and benefit defined.
(a) Payments certified to a representative payee shall be considered as having been applied for the use and benefit
of the beneficiary when they are used
for the beneficiary’s current maintenance—i.e., to replace current income
lost because of the disability of the
beneficiary. Where a beneficiary is receiving care in an institution, current
maintenance shall include the customary charges made by the institution and charges made for the current
and foreseeable needs of the beneficiary which are not met by the institution.
(b) Payments certified to a representative payee which are not needed for
the current maintenance of the beneficiary, except as they may be used
under § 725.512, shall be conserved or invested on the beneficiary’s behalf. Preferred investments are U.S. savings
bonds which shall be purchased in ac-

cordance with applicable regulations of
the U.S. Treasury Department (31 CFR
part 315). Surplus funds may also be invested in accordance with the rules applicable to investment of trust estates
by trustees. For example, surplus funds
may be deposited in an interest or dividend bearing account in a bank or
trust company or in a savings and loan
association if the account is either federally insured or is otherwise insured
in accordance with State law requirements. Surplus funds deposited in an
interest or dividend bearing account in
a bank or trust company or in a savings and loan association must be in a
form of account which clearly shows
that the representative payee has only
a fiduciary, and not a personal, interest in the funds. The preferred forms of
such accounts are as follows:
Name of beneficiary lllllllllllll
by (Name of representative payee) representative payee,
or (Name of beneficiary)
by (Name of representative payee) trustee,
U.S. savings bonds purchased with surplus
funds by a representative payee for an incapacitated adult beneficiary should be registered as follows: (Name of beneficiary) (Social Security No.), for whom (Name of payee)
is representative payee for black lung benefits.

§ 725.512 Support of legally dependent
spouse, child, or parent.
If current maintenance needs of a
beneficiary are being reasonably met, a
relative or other person to whom payments are certified as representative
payee on behalf of the beneficiary may
use part of the payments so certified
for the support of the legally dependent
spouse, a legally dependent child, or a
legally dependent parent of the beneficiary.
§ 725.513

Accountability; transfer.

(a) The district director may require
a representative payee to submit periodic reports including a full accounting
of the use of all benefit payments certified to a representative payee. If a requested report or accounting is not
submitted within the time allowed, the
district director shall terminate the
certification of the representative
payee and thereafter payments shall be

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Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Labor
made directly to the beneficiary. A certification which is terminated under
this section may be reinstated for good
cause, provided that all required reports are supplied to the district director.
(b) A representative payee who has
conserved or invested funds from payments under this part shall, upon the
direction of the district director, transfer any such funds (including interest)
to a successor payee appointed by the
district director or, at the option of the
district director, shall transfer such
funds to the Office for recertification
to a successor payee or the beneficiary.

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§ 725.514 Certification to dependent of
augmentation portion of benefit.
(a) If the basic benefit of a miner or
of a surviving spouse is augmented because of one or more dependents, and it
appears to the district director that
the best interests of such dependent
would be served thereby, or that the
augmented benefit is not being used for
the use and benefit (as defined in this
subpart) of the augmentee, the district
director may certify payment of the
amount of such augmentation (to the
extent attributable to such dependent)
to such dependent directly, or to a
legal guardian or a representative
payee for the use and benefit of such
dependent.
(b) Any request to the district director to certify separate payment of the
amount of an augmentation in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section
shall be in writing on such form and in
accordance with such instructions as
are prescribed by the Office.
(c) The district director shall specify
the terms and conditions of any certification authorized under this section
and may terminate any such certification where appropriate.
(d) Any payment made under this
section, if otherwise valid under the
Act, is a complete settlement and satisfaction of all claims, rights, and interests in and to such payment, except
that such payment shall not be construed to abridge the rights of any
party to recoup any overpayment
made.

§ 725.520

§ 725.515 Assignment and exemption
from claims of creditors.
(a) Except as provided by the Act and
this part, no assignment, release, or
commutation of benefits due or payable under this part by a responsible
operator shall be valid, and all benefits
shall be exempt from claims of creditors and from levy, execution, and attachment or other remedy or recovery
or collection of a debt, which exemption may not be waived.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, benefits due from, or payable by, the Black Lung Disability
Trust Fund under the Act and this part
to a claimant shall be subject to legal
process brought for the enforcement
against the claimant of his or her legal
obligations to provide child support or
make alimony payments to the same
extent as if the fund was a private person.
BENEFIT RATES
§ 725.520 Computation of benefits.
(a) Basic rate. The amount of benefits
payable to a beneficiary for a month is
determined, in the first instance, by
computing the ‘‘basic rate.’’ The basic
rate is equal to 371⁄2 percent of the
monthly pay rate for Federal employees in GS–2, step 1. That rate for a
month is determined by:
(1) Ascertaining the lowest annual
rate of pay (step 1) for Grade GS–2 of
the General Schedule applicable to
such month (see 5 U.S.C. 5332);
(2) Ascertaining the monthly rate
thereof by dividing the amount determined in paragraph (a)(1) of this section by 12; and
(3) Ascertaining the basic rate under
the Act by multiplying the amount determined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section by 0.375 (that is, by 371⁄2 percent).
(b) Basic benefit. When a miner or surviving spouse is entitled to benefits for
a month for which he or she has no dependents who qualify under this part
and when a surviving child of a miner
or spouse, or a parent, brother, or sister of a miner, is entitled to benefits
for a month for which he or she is the
only beneficiary entitled to benefits,
the amount of benefits to which such
beneficiary is entitled is equal to the
basic rate as computed in accordance

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