§ 352.
(d)
Overpayment of benefits; recovery; liability of officers
If the Board finds that at any time more than the correct amount of benefits has been paid to any individual under this chapter or a payment has been made to an individual not entitled thereto (including payments made prior to July 1, 1940), recovery by adjustments in subsequent payments to which such individual is entitled under this chapter or any other Act administered by the Board may, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, be made under regulations prescribed by the Board. If such individual dies before recovery is completed, recovery may be made by set-off or adjustments, under regulations prescribed by the Board, in subsequent payments due, under this chapter or any other Act administered by the Board, to the estate, designee, next of kin, legal representative, or surviving spouse of such individual, with respect to the employment of such individual.
Adjustments under this subsection may be made either by deductions from subsequent payments or, with respect to payments which are to be made during a lifetime or lifetimes, by subtracting the total amount of benefits paid in excess of the proper amount from the actuarial value, as determined by the Board, of such payments to be made during a lifetime or lifetimes and recertifying such payments on the basis of the reduced actuarial value. In the latter case, recovery shall be deemed to have been completed upon such recertification.
There shall be no recovery in any case in which more than the correct amount of benefits has been paid to an individual or payment has been made to an individual not entitled thereto (including payments made prior to July 1, 1940) who, in the judgment of the Board, is without fault when, in the judgment of the Board, recovery would be contrary to the purpose of this chapter or would be against equity or good conscience.
No certifying or disbursing officer shall be held liable for any amount certified or paid by him in good faith to any person where the recovery of such amount is waived under the third paragraph of this subsection or has been begun but cannot be completed under the first paragraph of this subsection.
([June 25, 1938, ch. 680, § 2], [52 Stat. 1096]; [June 20, 1939, ch. 227], §§ 7–9, 21, [53 Stat. 845], 848; [Oct. 10, 1940, ch. 842], §§ 9–12, [54 Stat. 1095], 1096; [July 31, 1946, ch. 709], §§ 305–307, [60 Stat. 736], 737; [May 15, 1952, ch. 290, § 1], [66 Stat. 73]; [Aug. 31, 1954, ch. 1164], pt. III, § 304, [68 Stat. 1041]; [Aug. 12, 1955, ch. 869, § 4], [69 Stat. 716]; [Pub. L. 86–28], pt. III, §§ 302, 303(a), May 19, 1959, [73 Stat. 30]; [Pub. L. 89–700, title II, § 202], Oct. 30, 1966, [80 Stat. 1087]; [Pub. L. 90–257, title II, § 202], Feb. 15, 1968, [82 Stat. 23]; [Pub. L. 93–445, title IV, § 401], Oct. 16, 1974, [88 Stat. 1359]; [Pub. L. 94–92, title I, § 1(c)]–(e), Aug. 9, 1975, [89 Stat. 461], 462; [Pub. L. 98–76, title IV, § 412(a)], Aug. 12, 1983, [97 Stat. 436]; [Pub. L. 100–647, title VII], §§ 7101(c), 7201(a), Nov. 10, 1988, [102 Stat. 3758], 3774; [Pub. L. 104–88, title III, § 324(3)], Dec. 29, 1995, [109 Stat. 950]; [Pub. L. 104–251], §§ 2–5(b), Oct. 9, 1996, [110 Stat. 3161–3165]; [Pub. L. 111–5, div. B, title II, § 2006(a)], Feb. 17, 2009, [123 Stat. 445]; [Pub. L. 111–92, § 9(a)], Nov. 6, 2009, [123 Stat. 2988]; [Pub. L. 111–312, title V, § 505(a)], Dec. 17, 2010, [124 Stat. 3308]; [Pub. L. 112–78, title II, § 202(a)], Dec. 23, 2011, [125 Stat. 1283]; [Pub. L. 112–96, title II, § 2124(a)], Feb. 22, 2012, [126 Stat. 167]; [Pub. L. 112–240, title V, § 504(a)], Jan. 2, 2013, [126 Stat. 2344]; [Pub. L. 116–136, div. A, title II], §§ 2113, 2114(a), Mar. 27, 2020, [134 Stat. 334]; [Pub. L. 116–260, div. N, title II], §§ 232(a), 233(a), Dec. 27, 2020, [134 Stat. 1957]; [Pub. L. 117–2, title II], §§ 2901(a), 2902(a), Mar. 11, 2021, [135 Stat. 49].)