Payment Certification (For Death Case)

This topic has been updated to add notes on corrective actions to be taken when receiving error messages.

Payment Certification is option 4 on the Death Case Menu. This option is used to:

Identify the heir(s) who will receive the deceased employee's final payment.
Confirm receipt of the necessary documentation to process the death claim and allow authorization of the claim for final processing.
Show a preliminary calculation of amounts disbursed to the claimants to date and amounts to be disbursed.
Show claimant specific data based on information received to date.

To Access Payment Certification Screen:

Type 4 at the Select Option (1-7) prompt on the Death Case Menu.
Press Enter. The Order of Precedence In Accordance With 5USC5582(B) screen is displayed. This screen is used to select the beneficiary(ies) of the deceased in the order designated by 5USC5582(B). The order is as follows:
- First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the employee in writing received in the employing Agency before his/her death.
- Second, if there is no designated beneficiary, to the widow or widower of the employee.
- Third, if none of the above, to the child or children of the employee and descendants of the deceased children by representation.
- Fourth, if none of the above, to the parents of the employee or the survivor of them.
- Fifth, if none of the above, to the duly appointed legal representative of the estate of the employee.

To Select a Beneficiary:

The SSNO, Agency, and Name are system generated. Complete the remaining fields as follows:

Field	Instruction
(Enter Y To Identify Beneficiary Selection)	Type Y (yes) to the appropriate field to select a beneficiary. Note: Only one selection is allowed. Complete the following fields only if the Child or Children field is coded Y.
Legal Guardianship Papers, If Other Than Parent	Type Y if the documents indicating legal guardianship are received.
Letter of Intent From Other Parent or Guardian	Type Y (yes) when the letter of intent is received from the parent or guardian.
Completed SF 1153 Form From Guardian	Type Y (yes) when a completed SF 1153 is received from the guardian. Complete the following field if the Executor or Administrator of the Estate field is coded Y.
Court Documents Of The Appointment	Type Y (yes) when the applicable court documents are received.
Function Code	Type the applicable function code. Valid values are: A - add C - change D - delete

Press Enter. The order of precedence is recorded.

To Authorize the Claim:

Press PF8 at the Order of Precedence in Accordance With 5USC5582(B) 1 of 5 screen. The Authorization screen is displayed. This screen is used to authorize the calculation and distribution of payments to approved beneficiaries entered on the Beneficiary Claimant Information screen. This screen must be completed to release payments to all approved beneficiaries. If the claim is denied or approved after pending legal review, you must code the applicable field to recalculate and release the portion that is in question.
Note: SPPS Special Payroll Processing System allows for multiple disbursements for death cases. If a claimant's entitlement is held pending legal review, payments to approved claimants can be authorized without waiting for approval or denial of the claimant in question. When a claimant is granted or denied approval, recalculate the distribution and release the amount in question to the specified claimant or to the other approved claimants.

The SSNO, Agency, and Name are system generated. Complete the remaining fields as follows:

Field	Instruction
Date of Death (MMDDYY)	Type the employee's date of death (MMDDYY) Note: This date must agree with the date of death entered on the personnel action.
Marital Status	Type the applicable code identifying the deceased employee's marital status. Valid values are: S - single, including widowed M - married D - divorced Note: This code must agree with what is shown on the death certificate.
Authorization Field	Instruction
Have All Applicable Debts Been Recorded in SPPS?	Type Y (yes) if all known debts for the deceased employee have been recorded in SPPS Special Payroll Processing System. Type N (no) if all known debts for the deceased employee have not been recorded in SPPS Special Payroll Processing System.
Calculate Distribution	Type Y (yes) to begin the online certification and payment calculation process. Otherwise, leave this field blank. This is a preliminary payment calculation process to be used for review and approval of payment calculation before releasing the payment for distribution. To view each claimant's scheduled amount, see Pending Disbursement(s) By Claimant. Note: Do not calculate the distribution if the employee is not coded as deceased in the payroll/personnel database. If the distribution is calculated but payment(s) is not released, the information on this screen will be retained until the payment is released and disbursement is made. For a status of death claims, request CULPRPT Report P0165, Death Case Status of Active Claims By Agency/POI Thru Quarter Ending XX/XX/XX.
Release Payment(s)	Type Y (yes) to authorize payment to the approved beneficiary(ies). To view the amount each claimant received, see the Payment Inquiry By Claimant screen. If this field is coded Y (yes) and the payment information does not display on the Payment Inquiry screen, request CULPRPT P0163, Death Case/Indebtedness Audit Error(s) For Processing Date XX/XX/XX. There may be errors that are preventing the payment from being disbursed. Correct the errors listed on the report and release the payment again. If there are errors that are too difficult to correct, contact the NFC Contact Center at 1-855-NFC-4GOV (1-855-632-4468). To calculate each beneficiary's amount without disbursement, Type Y (yes) in the Calculate Distribution field and leave this field blank. Note: Do not calculate the distribution if the employee is not coded as deceased in the payroll/personnel database. Complete this field once all payment(s) have been disbursed.
If Yes, Is This The Final Payment	Type Y (yes) if this death case is complete (e.g., each claimant is coded release on the Beneficiary Information screen). Type N (no) if all claimants are not coded release. Note: Do not calculate the distribution if the employee is not coded as deceased in the payroll/personnel database.
Function Code	Type the applicable function code. Valid values are: A - add C - change D - delete Note: If the function code is changed to D, the death case record will not process unless the code is changed back to A.

Press Enter. The Authorization data is processed.

To View Pending Disbursements:

Press PF8 at the Authorization 2 of 5 screen, the Pending Disbursement(s) screen is displayed. All data on this screen is system generated from SPPS Special Payroll Processing System entries. This screen is used to view each payment that is scheduled to be disbursed and shows the total amount to be disbursed.

Pending Disburesment Death

The fields are described below.

Monies To Be Disbursed Payroll Field	Description
Pay Period No/Yr	Pay period number and year for the payment being processed.
Type Payment	Type of payment being disbursed.
Amount	Amount of the payment.

To View Pending Disbusement(s) Totals:

At the Pending Disbursement(s) screen 3 of 5 press PF4. The Pending Disbursement(s) (Totals) screen is displayed. Press Enter to display the summary totals. All data on this screen is system generated from SPPS Special Payroll Processing System entries.

Pending Disbursement(s) (Totals) Screen

The fields are described below.

Field	Description
Reissuance:	A check made out to the deceased is canceled and reissued in the name of the heir(s). The amount may be different because of tax laws associated with death cases.
Date	Date of the payment, month, day, and year order.
Amount	Amount of the reissued payment.
Tax Credits:	Tax credits are a result of payments being distributed to heirs in the tax year following the year of the employee's death. If the payments are made in the same year as the year of death, there are no tax credits. Only wages that were earned by the deceased and disbursed to heirs in the year of the employee's death are subject to Social Security and/or Medicare taxes. Wages not disbursed in the tax year receive tax credits. These payments are distributed to the beneficiary(ies) in accordance with the Designated Share (Percent) field on the beneficiary Claimant Information Screen. At the end of the year, a Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, is generated and forwarded to all applicable beneficiaries.
Tax Year	Year of the employee's death.
Medicare	Amount to be disbursed as a result of HIT Hospital Insurance Tax tax credits.
Social Security	Amount to be disbursed as a result of Social Security tax credits.
Employee Indebtedness	Total amount of indebtedness recorded in both ABCO and SPPS Special Payroll Processing System.
Total Monies To Be Disbursed	Total amount to be disbursed to the deceased employee's heirs. If this amount is negative and the payment is released, the employee's estate will be billed through ABCO.

To View Pending Claimant Disbursements:

At the Pending Disbursement(s) (Totals) screen 4 of 5 press PF10. The Pending Disbursement(s) By Claimant screen is displayed. All data on this screen is system generated and reflects the disbursements from the most recent SPPS Special Payroll Processing System entries.

Pending Disbursements By Claimant

The fields are described below.

Field	Description
Amt In Suspense	Amount in suspense.
Current Dis Amt	Amount to be disbursed to the beneficiary.
SSNO	Beneficiary claimant's SSN Social Security number.
Claimant No	Order in which the beneficiary claimants were entered.
Name	Claimant's first name, middle name or initial, and last name/guardian if applicable/relationship.
Check Mailing Information Field	Description
Street Address 1	First line of the beneficiary claimant's or the designated Agent's address.
Address 2	Second line of the beneficiary claimant's or designated Agent's street address.
City	Beneficiary claimant's or designated Agent's city name.
State	Beneficiary claimant's or designated Agent's State abbreviation.
ZIP Code	Beneficiary claimant's or designated Agent's ZIP code.
Designated Agent Code	Assigned designated Agent code.
Bank Deposit (DD/EFT) Field	Description
Type of Account	Applicable code designating the type of bank account in which the monies are to be deposited. Valid values are: C - checking S - savings
Account Number	Beneficiary claimant's account number.
Routing Number	Beneficiary claimant's financial institution's identification number.

Note: If you receive an error related to the tax credit or Advance Leave Indicator when certifying via the Option 4. Payment Certification, there cannot be a tax credit while the Advance Leave is forgiven. Please go to Option 2. Adjustment Due To Employee Indebtedness and select Advanced Leave. Please follow the instructions in one of the two scenarios to remove this error message.

Scenario 1: If Has All Advanced Leave Been Forgiven? has a value of N (Y,N), but you are trying to change it to Y, do the following: Request NCC delete the tax credit in 8. Manual Payment(s). Once deleted, return to the Advance Leave screen and change the Has All Advanced Leave Been Forgiven? N to Y. Try to certify again.

Scenario 2: If Has All Advanced Leave Been Forgiven? has a value of Y, (Y,N), but you are trying to change it to N, do the following: Request NCC delete the tax credit in 8. Manual Payment(s). Once deleted, return to the Advance Leave screen and change the Has All Advanced Leave Been Forgiven? Y to N. Return to the 8. Manual Payment(s) screen and reenter the tax credit. Once the tax credit has been reentered, return to Option 4. Payment Certification screen. Try to certify again.

Special Payroll Processing System Mainframe/Block Mode Format (SPPS)