Posted on 06/22/2011 4:03:22 PM PDT by stylecouncilor
Months ago I filed and paid $27 for a copy of my great-great grandfathers social security application as part of my genealogy research.
He was born in PA in 1871 and died in NY in 1940.
Today I received a letter from the SSA stating that they cannot send me a copy because they have no information that he is deceased! It goes on to thank me for my payment to cover the cost of searching the records and if I can send proof he is dead (lol) they can provide the record at no additional cost. I have 30 days to appeal.
Luckily, I grew impatient waiting for the SSA to send me the document, so I obtained a copy of his death certificate from the NY Municipal Archives.
Makes me think of the scene in our high school production of “You Can’t Take it With You” where Grandpa Vanderhoff convinces the IRS that he’s dead.
Ask them if they’re still sending him checks, and if they aren’t, why not.
My question would be, where have they been sending his Social Security checks all this time?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_people
Hmmm...
Sounds like Guinness Book of World Records is calling
Great minds...
Does he come up in the social security death index? If so, how is it they have not confirmation of death?
Is it possible that your ancestor was never in the system to begin with? I kinda doubt all the people who were senior citizens in the thirties jumped to get into SS. In fact, there were probably more than a few who considered it an affront.
Turn the tables on them. Say that because you are unable to proof that he died, they owe his family 75 years of back Social Security payments plus interest.
I’m sure they’ll provide you proof he is dead rather quickly. That, or some dumb bureaucrat will send you a check.
AH, some government workers do have a problem with numbers. My husband used to have to call one of them frequently and she was always out, at lunch, at a meeting, or on leave. Her secretary was such a dim bulb that when he gave his phone number he said he was afraid she’d ask him how to make an 8.
LOL!
Adventures from your family tree ping.
Yeppers. I’ll bet you didn’t know that his name was actually Jose Jimenez.
Well, was he a democrate? if so perhape he has been voting, so now they might have to take him off the voters list
I’m so glad such highly intelligent folks wish to run our healthcare system....
Did he even receive any benefits?
SS didn’t start collecting until January 1937 and the first payout started January 1940.
Then he can still vote if the SSA thinks he’s alive.
Then he can still vote if the SSA thinks he’s alive.
Go ahead and follow through with the death certificate. The SocSec application will contain a lot more genealogical data than the death certificate. You already paid your money so for the price of a photocopy of the DC and a stamp, why not? Plus it will be good practice for trying to get healthcare under the coming Obamacare bureaucracy.
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