What to Do if Social Security Declares You Dead

What to Do if Social Security Declares You Dead You might arrangements for somebody to take care of your affairs after you die, but what if that â€Å"somebody† ends up being you? What should you do if the Social Security Administration (SSA) prematurely declares you dead? I’m Not Quite Dead Yet It starts with little clues, like when your ATM card no longer access your bank account or your druggist informs you that your health insurance seems to have been cancelled. You actually start to feel like you no longer exist. Then, the next day, a letter from the Social Security Administration confirms your fears by offering its sympathy for your death, informing you that your monthly benefit payments will stop  and that any payments made since your â€Å"death† would be removed from your bank account. Poor, poor dead you. Being incorrectly tagged as dead by Social Security can be devastating. Once SSA decides you are dead, it publishes your full name, Social Security number, birthday and supposed date of death in a publicly-accessible document called the Death Master File. Created to help prevent fraud, like somebody getting a credit card in a dead person’s name, or using dead peoples’ names to get tax refunds, the Death Master File too often exposes living people incorrectly listed on it to identity theft. Most cases of being incorrectly flagged as deceased are due to simple clerical errors, sometimes related to the actual death of close relatives – like spouses – who have the same last names. Sometimes states send incorrect or incomplete death information to SSA, or data entry errors might occur if SSA employees manually input death records.   How Often Does it Happen? How likely are you to be incorrectly listed as dead? According to a 2011 audit report from the Social Security Administration’s inspector general, from May 2007 to April 2010, almost 36,657 living people – 12,219 per year had been incorrectly listed as deceased on the Death Master File. The inspector general further estimated that since the file’s inception in 1980, from 700 to 2,800 people had been incorrectly declared dead every month a total of more than 500,000. Considering that the SSA receives about 2.5 million death records each year from many sources, the error rate is really very low, and when the SSA becomes aware it has posted a death record in error, the agency typically moves quickly to correct the situation.   Maintaining the Death Master File involves a complex, multi-level reporting process, so most cases of being incorrectly flagged as deceased are due to simple clerical errors; sometimes related to the actual deaths of close relatives, like spouses, who have the same last names. How Do You Fix It? It’s easy to prove you are not â€Å"a† dead person, but not so easy to prove you are not â€Å"the† dead person. How do you do it? According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), if you suspect you might have been incorrectly listed as dead on your Social Security record, you should visit – in person your local Social Security office as soon as possible. Most offices allow you to call ahead for an appointment. When you go, make sure to bring at least one of the following pieces of identification with you: Passport;Adoption record;Drivers license;Employee ID card;Military record;School ID card, record or report card;Marriage or divorce record;Health insurance card (except a Medicare card);Certified copy of medical record;Life insurance policy;Court order for name change; orChurch membership that establishes your identity. Important: The SSA stresses that the identification documents you show them must be original documents or copies certified by the agency that issued to them. They will not accept non-certified photocopies or notarized copies. In addition, all identification documents must be current. Expired documents will not be accepted. Finally, the SSA will not accept a receipt showing you applied for a document. Ask for Your ‘Proof of Life’ Letter When and if the correct your records, the SSA can send you a letter that you can give to banks, doctors or others to show that your death report was in error. This letter is called the Erroneous Death Case - Third Party Contact Notice.† Be sure to request this letter when you visit your SSA office. The Death Master File Cuts Both Ways Just as the SSA can wrongly declare people dead, it can declare then immortal, which poses an expensive problem for all living taxpayers. In May 2016, another SSA inspector general reported that more than 6.5 million Americans aged 112 and older still have active Social Security numbers. Seems strange, considering that a New York resident believed at the time to be the world’s oldest living man at age 112, died in 2013.

Geography and Information About the State of Louisiana

Geography and Information About the State of Louisiana Capital: Baton RougePopulation: 4,523,628 (2005 estimate prior to Hurricane Katrina)Largest Cities: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette and Lake CharlesArea: 43,562 square miles (112,826 sq km)Highest Point: Mount Driskill at 535 feet (163 m)Lowest Point: New Orleans at -5 feet (-1.5 m)Louisiana is a state located in the southeastern portion of the United States between Texas and Mississippi and south of Arkansas. It features a distinct multicultural population that was influenced by French, Spanish and African peoples during the 18th century due to colonization and slavery. Louisiana was the 18th state to join the U.S. on April 30, 1812. Prior to its statehood, Louisiana was a former Spanish and French colony.Today, Louisiana is most known for its multicultural events such as Mardi Gras in New Orleans, its Cajun culture, as well as its economy based on fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. As such, Louisiana was severely impacted (like all Gulf of Mexico states) by a large oil spill off of its coast in April 2010. In addition, Louisiana is prone to natural disasters like hurricanes and flooding and has recently been hit by several large hurricanes in recent years. The largest of these was Hurricane Katrina which was a category three hurricane when it made landfall on August 29, 2005. 80% of New Orleans was flooded during Katrina and more than two million people were displaced in the region.The following is a list of important things to know about Louisiana, provided in an effort to educate readers about this fascinating U.S. state. Louisiana was first explored by Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 during a Spanish expedition. The French then began exploring the region in the 1600s and in 1682, Robert Cavelier de la Salle arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed the area for France. He named the area Louisiana after the French king, King Louis XIV.Throughout the rest of the 1600s and into the 1700s, Louisiana was colonized by both the French and Spanish but it was dominated by the Spanish during this time. During Spains control of Louisiana, agriculture grew and New Orleans became a major trading port. In addition, during the early 1700s, Africans were brought to the region as slaves.In 1803, the U.S. took control of Louisiana after the Louisiana Purchase. In 1804 the land purchased by the U.S. was divided into a southern part called the Territory of Orleans which eventually became the state of Louisiana in 1812 when it was admitted into the union. After becoming a state, Louisiana continued being influence d by French and Spanish culture. This is shown today in the states multicultural nature and the various languages are spoken there. Today, unlike other states in the U.S., Louisiana is divided into parishes. These are local government divisions that are equivalent to counties in other states. Jefferson Parish is the largest parish-based on population while Cameron Parish is the largest by land area. Louisiana currently has 64 parishes.Louisianas topography consists of relatively flat lowlands located on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Rivers alluvial plain. The highest point in Louisiana is along its border with Arkansas but it still below 1,000 feet (305 m). The main waterway in Louisiana is the Mississippi and the states coast is full of slow-moving bayous. Large lagoons and oxbow lakes, like Lake Ponchartrain, are also common in the state.Louisianas climate is considered humid subtropical and its coast is rainy. As a result, it contains many biodiverse marshes. Louisianas inland areas are drier and are dominated by low prairies and low rolling hills. Average temperatures vary based on location within the state and the northern regions are colder in the winters and hotter in the summers than those areas closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Louisianas economy is heavily dependent on its fertile soils and waters. Because much of the states land sits on rich alluvial deposits, it is the U.S.s largest producer of sweet potatoes, rice, and sugarcane. Soybeans, cotton, dairy products, strawberries, hay, pecans, and vegetables are also abundant in the state. In addition, Louisiana is well-known for its fishing industry that is dominated by shrimp, menhaden (mostly used to make fishmeal for poultry) and oysters.Tourism is also a large part of Louisianas economy. New Orleans is especially popular due to its history and the French Quarter. That location has many famous restaurants, architecture and is the home of the Mardi Gras festival which has been held there since 1838.The population of Louisiana is dominated by Creole and Cajun peoples of French ancestry. Cajuns in Louisiana are descended from French colonists from Acadia in what were the present-day Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island . Cajuns are mainly settled in southern Louisiana and as a result, French is a common language in the region. Creole is the name given to people born to French settlers in Louisiana when it was still a colony of France. Louisiana is home to some of the most famous universities in the U.S. Some of these include Tulane and Loyola Universities in New Orleans and the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. References Infoplease.com. (n.d.). Louisiana - Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0830418.htmlState of Louisiana. (n.d.). Louisiana.gov - Explore. Retrieved from: louisiana.gov/Explore/About_Louisiana/Wikipedia. (2010, May 12). Louisiana - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana