The funeral home said they would contact Social Security, so I didn’t have to worry about that. The credit union charged back the automatic deposit from Social Security that was posted after the death, so I didn’t have to worry about that.

That’s why I was taken aback when the letters started arriving from the Social Security Administration wanting to know why the last deposit was returned. I called and told them because my Mother had died, and they said that they didn’t know she had passed away. I checked with the funeral home who confirmed that they had notified Social Security and gave me the confirmation number. Even after I called back and gave Social Security that information, the letters kept coming.

Finally I went down to the local Social Security office and waited to give them a death certificate. After 30-45 minutes my number was called and I presented all of the letters and a death certificate to the clerk who looked at his screen and said: ‘You didn’t need to come in, the funeral home reported her passing.’

I explained that the people in the benefits center in New York told me I had to file an official, certified, rainbow-colored, ten dollar death certificate.

The clerk looked at the screen for several minutes, and suddenly moved his mouse and clicked. He said that whoever got the report from the funeral home had neglected to check a box.

Apparently if you return money to any government agency except the IRS they freak out. This doesn’t bode well for the VA, my last major notification, and someone I need to return money to because of the automatic deposit.