Thismonth,wediscusswhathappenswhentheSocialSecurityAdministrationmistakenly"kills"peoplewhoarestillalive.Onahappiernote,this newsletteralsocommemoratesGrandparent'sDaytocelebratethoseofourreaderswithgrandchildren.

September2016News

PhysicallyAlive,LegallyDead

DidyouknowthattheSocialSecurityAdministrationcandeclareyoulegallydead,evenifyouarestillverymuchalive?Everyyear,approximately9,000peopleareaccidentallydeclareddeceased,simplyduetoclericalerror.AlthoughthismayinitiallysoundlikeasillyconundrumakintooneofTomSawyer'sadventures,thissimpletransposingofdigitscanhavedevastatingeffectsontheindividualsdeclaredtobedead.

Takegovernmentbenefits,forexample. A person'sSocialSecuritypayments,whichmaybeakeysourceofhis orhermonthlyincome,canbeinterruptedas aresultofbeinginaccuratelydeclareddead. Additionally,governmentagenciestalktoeachother,sootherorganizations-likeMedicareandtheVA-thatobtaintheirrecordsfromtheSocialSecurityAdministration(SSA) maystopissuingbenefitstothe legally-deceased individualaswell.

Theheadachedoesn'tendthere.PartoftheSSA'sdutiesistomaintainwhatiscalledthe"DeathMasterFile."Thispublicdomaindatabaselistsbasicidentifyinginformationofdeceasedindividuals,includingname,dateofbirth,address,andSocialSecurityNumber.Ironically,publishingtheDeathMasterFileisintendedtopreventfraudtoensure, forexample,thatapersondoesn'ttrytoopenalineofcreditinhisorherdeceasedrelative'sname.However,forpeoplewhoareinaccuratelydeclareddeceased,theDeathMasterFilecanleadtorampantidentitytheftbecausetheirpersonalinformationhasbeencompromisedandhasbecomepartofthe publicrecord.

Awarenessofthisproblemisespeciallyimportantnow.Lastmonth,theSSA discoveredamassclericalerrorintheirsystem,inwhich90peopleoutofagroupof19,000,weredeclaredlegallydead.These90caseswereconcentratedinthreestates,includingVirginia,andwere partofanewsystemthattheSSAwastryingtoimplementinordertoincreasethequalityofitsdeathrecords.

TheSSAhassaidthatitplanstonotifyallpeopleaffectedbythisgrouperror,sobeonthelookoutforanymailfromSocialSecurity.Ifyouareoneofthepeopleaffectedbythismasserrororoneofthe"routine"SSAmistakes,weatThePeninsulaCentercanhelpinyourlegalresurrection.

Sources:"DeadorAlive?SocialSecurityMisclassifiedSome""SocialSecurityDataErrorsCanTurnPeopleIntotheLiving Dead,""WhatIt'sLiketoBeDeclaredDeadbytheGovernment,""Vet,Oneof4,200MistakenlyDeclaredDeadbyVA,Feels'Resurrected'."

HappyGrandparent'sDay!

OnSunday,September11th,ournationcelebratedGrandparent'sDay.ThisannualholidayiscelebratedonthefirstSundayafterLaborDay,andbeganin1978throughtheeffortsofCongressandPresidentJimmyCarter.Thedayismeanttohighlighthowmuchgrandparentsdo fortheirfamilies,aswellasraiseawarenessoftheuniquechallengesthat oldergenerationsface.

WeatThePeninsulaCenterwishaHappyGrandparent'sDaytoallofourclientswhohavegrandchildren.Thankyoufortheloveandwisdomyoubestowonyourfamily.

Weencourageourclientswhoareluckyenoughtohavegrandparentsstilllivingtogivethema calland letthemknowhowmuchyoucareaboutthem.

Ifyouwouldliketounsubscribefromreceivingfuturenewslettersfromus,clickthelinkinthefooterbelow.Haveanideaforhowwecandobetter?Letusknow;wewelcomeyourfeedbackandsuggestions.Finally,thankyouforlettingusserveyou.Pleaseconsidertelling yourcolleaguesand friendsaboutus!

Sincerely,

HelenaS.Mock,Esq.ErinA.Smith,Esq.

THEPENINSULACENTERFORESTATEANDLIFELONGPLANNING

461McLawsCircle,Suite2Williamsburg,VA23185Phone:757-969-1900

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