The Social Security Administration maintains a Death Master File, which contains the Social Security numbers, names, birth dates, death dates, zip codes and last-known residences of more than 87 million deceased Americans. A recent headline in CNN Money reported that “Social Security wrongly declares 14,000 people dead each year.” Approximately one in every 200 deaths are incorrectly recorded in the Death Master Files of the Social Security Administration.
Are you one of the 14,000 incorrectly reported as dead this year? I found this to be very unsettling. The CNN Money article shared stories of individuals who found out that a clerical error had been made by incorrectly entering their social security number into the Death Master File. Try using your credit card or withdrawing money from your checking account if you are reported as dead. What about those checks you wrote last week that are now bouncing and the corresponding bank charges and fees that hit your account for the bounced checks. What about those monthly social security checks that stop coming or any benefits you were entitled to before you deceased. Those who are declared dead not only lose their ability to apply for credit or receive benefits, but they are also at a high risk for identity theft now that all of their personal information has been made public.
Well, you might think that this would be easy to fix. Obviously, if you call your bank or credit card companies and tell them that you are alive, that should do it, right? They could just ask you those questions that only you could answer, like your mother’s maiden name or your “secret” password for phone verification of banking transactions. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The bank will not let you reopen your account until you can prove you are alive. One reported case took two months to fix the error at the Social Security Administration. How do you live for two months without funds or credit?
So what do you do if you find out you have been prematurely reported dead? First, you need to contact the County Clerk’s office and obtain a copy of your Death Certificate. You complete a form to have the certificate amended. Typically the person or source that reported you dead will need to sign or validate the amended certificate. Next, you contact the Social Security Administration and schedule a face-to-face meeting where you bring a photo ID and the amended Death Certificate. The Social Security Administration will then provide you with correspondence that you can use to notify your bank, credit bureau, credit card companies, and other parties to bring you back to life. Who would have ever believed that a simple clerical error could be so costly.
Keep those letters coming, folks. Send your ideas to: The Frugal Forum, P.O. Box 693, Huntley, IL 60142 or by email to: thefrugalforum@gmail.com
1 Comment
After Social Security Disability Benefits were pulled from our bank, we discovered I’m dead. SS refuses to release who reported my death to them, so cannot obtain death certificate.