"Maria Kelley" <mariakjek@juno.com> wrote: > > Yes, indeed.. This is the government we are dealing with. There > have been quite a few stories of people having their social security > payments cut off because someone reported them dead and they were > not. I am not sure that, having straightened it out they would be > on the database, but it is definitely possible for someone to make > the database without actually dying!. Verification codes are given in the SSDI. As for the "quite a few stories" about the effects of falsely reported deaths, I think you're likely dealing with an urban legend. It is fashionable to take pot shots at our government employees, but I am reminded of all of the accusations made about our IRS employees at Congressional hearings not too many years ago. Witness after witness during weeks of Congressional hearings put forth horror stories about the abuses IRS employers were inflicting on our citizens - property wrongly confiscated, hearings denied, and much more. We were subjected to these stories every night on the news. So horrendous were they that people lost their jobs, new laws were passed and a special commission formed to provide redress for all of the injustices.. Bottom Line: The special commission spend a couple of years investigating the se cases and finally informed Congress that in not one single instance could the charges against IRS employees substantiated. That's right, not a single one of the stories about how IRS was abusing taxpayers turned out to be true! (And do you recall hearing that on the nightly news?) Anyway, if you have a documented instance of a person's benefits being cut off because someone falsely reported his / her death, I would be happy to hear it. But, pretty please, don't let it begin, "This actually happened to a cousin of my sister's neighbor." <g> (And if you have ever tried to convince an SSA employee that someone was deceased so you could obtain a copy of that person's records, you will surely know that they won't take just anyone's word for this kind of information!) Regards, Richard "Richard A. Pence" <richardpence@pipeline.com>