The Weirdly Big Problem of Being Declared Dead Accidentally

[@wlinden]

when I was working at the Social Security Office, i was contacted by a woman who according to the Master Beneficiary list was not only dead, but died twice four years apart.

[@unitrader403]

As the saying goes "Third time is the charm" (or something like this :D )

[@tyrannosaurusimperator]

The weird part was she called to report her third death.

[@dudelikesWoW]

Ah yes, Mrs. Lazarus

[@renard6012]

How do they call her? Goku?

[@opticbit]

Who did she piss off?

[@josephabdallah9369]

When I was a teenager, I received a letter from the government stating that we would no longer be get child support payments, because my father was dead. I went over to his house and showed him the letter, he thought it was a joke and started walk around the house pretending to be a zombie. It turns out, he was in the hospital six months before with some complications with his heart and they listed him as deceased. It took him almost a year to get all his records off the DMF and get his Social Security, bank and his drivers license back. He actually was able to sue the hospital and as part of the settlement they were forced to help help him get his identity back. When he actually died several years later, he was in hospice (again, issues with his heart) I was informed via phone call from the duty nurse and I asked, "Are you sure?" she was like "Uh, yeah, pretty sure".

[@marble-q6j]

yiikes

[@lionelsanches8699]

I would of have said f my identity I want money lol

[@agustinvenegas5238]

That must have been a good anecdote for the funeral though, sorry for your loss regardless

[@josephabdallah9369]

@@agustinvenegas5238 Yeah, I actually told this story at his funeral. Everyone had a good laugh, my elderly aunt went as far as knocking on his coffin asking if he was faking it.

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

@@josephabdallah9369 My - definitely late - father would have adored your aunt. That's exactly the sort of thing he would have done. He'd have liked your dad too (and probably all your family if you're all the same) for dealing with a stressful situation with his sense of humour intact. But it must have been the last thing someone with a heart condition needed. At least he and his lawyer were smart enough to force the hospital to assist in overturning the problem. That probably cut down the time in limbo (not sure if that's figurative or literal in his case!) that most others seem to languish in. That definitely was a "pro-gamer move" as the meme says. Sorry you lost him, though. It sounds like he was taken too early. My own dad lived into his late 80s, but after losing Mum five years before, it was only a matter of time because after 60 years married, his heart was truly broken. It was painful for the family, because he was awesome, but there was no surprise. I hope you're doing okay. It can take a long time to completely get over losing someone so dear. Best wishes to you and your family 💜.

[@kieranmilner4208]

Electronic death records sounds like a edgy record company

[@alexv3357]

Or a great metal band

[@maple494]

Wow it really does :D

[@robertwilloughby8050]

I'd have said Synth-Goth or Prog myself.....😉

[@dippst]

either a hipster label that only releases on vinyl and reel-to-reel, or a label that exclusively signs technometal/industrial metal bands

[@delta61]

The publish songs by Death Master (File) :))

[@jbird4478]

I can only imagine the phone calls. "I'm not dead." "Sir, it says here you are dead."

[@Ghiaman1334]

Why are you dead?

[@Kromiball]

How are you dead?

[@main8824]

What are you dead?

[@josephjoestar77]

@@Ghiaman1334 Who says I'm dead?

[@mirzaahmed6589]

"Bring out your dead."

[@SceurdiaStudios]

It's kinda weird how even dying is complicated

[@99xs]

This is why I don’t want to die

[@RBRT02]

Life is complicated, so death is also complicated. Not that weird.

[@exeterra4825]

@@RBRT02 Its not though, life is very simple in itself. We're just making it more and more complicated as time goes on

[@reversemudkip8798]

@@exeterra4825 that’s why we need to purge the system. Too much bullsh*t nowadays

[@chlorobyte_projects]

@@reversemudkip8798 I unironically agree; you know what happens when people are overwhelmed with a bunch of shit? Stress and potentially suicide. Good job, humans.

[@dragossh]

A guy in Romania sued the state to cancel his death certificate, and lost. Because he came back to life too late. There's a month( i think ) after a death certificate is issued when it can be annulled hered. He showed up after 3 years. He was working in Turkey meanwhile, never told anyone, and his relatives declared him dead.

[@Xnoob545]

Why the fuck would you declare someone dead if you don't have proof?

[@DarkShard5728]

​@@Xnoob545stupidity

[@Leah-Heala]

​​@XnoobSpeakable I mean 3 years... Okay, to elaborate, it's not the no proof that's the stupid part it's the fact he lost somehow. You can be pronounced dead If you aren't discovered within a reasonable amount of time. If you fall off a ship and nobody can find you after like 2 weeks you are just presumed dead. Missing for years? Sometimes they do presume you dead. Depends on circumstances If you evaporate for 3 years and none of your friends or presumably relatives know... then they might just consider you dead. Of course sometimes you're just perpetually "missing"... think like kids gone missing but are never found alive nor dead... Or those that are missing in combat (MIA).

[@randomcow505]

@@Xnoob545 to pay the bills and or avoid getting sued, and I dont mean that in a morbid gold digger way if your husband just went missing one day without a trace, and you dident find him for 3 years, its pretty good to assume they were murdered or something, and so you do that so you get what's left to you in the will since you likely just lost half of your household income. Also, if they are receiving some form of benefits that money will still come in every month until they are declared dead, but there is only so long you can do that before the government will start wondering if this is benefits fraud and so you have to declare them dead at some point so you dont get sued for the money back.

[@InevitableMe]

​@@randomcow505 In Australia, if you go missing, you cannot be declared dead until seven years have passed, after which it is automatic. This, of course, causes problems for partners who, say, shared a bank account that was in the missing person's name, and cannot be accessed by them without a death certificate, which they won't have for seven years.

[@survivedandthriving]

A few years ago a colleague of mine ('D') at my last job was wrongly declared dead by our employer. The employer stopped paying D's salary, cutoff D's benefits, and even sent a form letter of condolence to D's spouse. And, you guessed it, D showing up alive at HR was deemed insufficient by HR to have D restored to their records of the living, reinstating D's salary, etc. It took some doing, but a couple of months later D (while still working without pay to maintain seniority and employment) finally got reinstated at work. Meanwhile, D still had to pay rent, groceries, etc. And, you guessed it, the employer never apologized for the mistake and all of the hassles they caused to D.

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

If it was a problem just with the employer, I would definitely sue and find a new job.

[@lemonandgaming6013]

did they atleast repay all the owed money (plus a reasonable "we beeped up" fee)

[@howardbaxter2514]

Yeah, that should be taken to court. That is incredibly illegal.

[@vladimirenlow4388]

@@howardbaxter2514 Not necessarily illegal, but horribly negligent and definitely worth suing over.

[@howardbaxter2514]

@@vladimirenlow4388 declaring someone dead at your work so you don’t pay them is most certainly illegal.

[@QuantumHistorian]

1/3 of one percent is a horrifyingly high error rate for something like this. Imagine if that was your error rate when driving: you'd have a couple of crashes a year, just from commuting, only from your own mistakes. Or to compare it a different part of the bureaucracy: it would be enough to change the outcome of elections in swing states.

[@kkmac7247]

@@Rain_Beau why would he be sarcastic?

[@somethinglikethat2176]

An estimated 2,854,838 died in the US in 2019. That's about 8,565 people who were wrongly declared dead. The system itself should be error checking. If they type the wrong number, it should pick up that the rest of the details don't much.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

@@Rain_Beau I don't think they are. 1/3 of one percent sounds low but it's actually very high for that sort of thing.

[@howardbaxter2514]

Yeah, government screw ups! Everyone loves those… Still can’t believe people want the government to control their lives. SMH.

[@LucenProject]

2:11 "7-12,000 Americans get wrongly listed as dead every year. Daily, that's somewhere between one and 8 billion people a day." Am I missing something in the math here? Is it a joke that's going over my head?

[@BallisticDamages]

It's honestly one of the most frustrating things that can happen. Have a close friend currently dealing with this in Canada

[@jbird4478]

It kind of sounds similar to identity theft: an endless stream of bureaucratic hell.

[@danielbishop1863]

A similar thing happened when my grandfather died. Whoever typed up his death certificate put his date of death a month early. And based on this inaccurate information, Social Security would not pay his final monthly check, and Medicare would not pay for his final hospital visit, until my mother and grandmother got the bureaucracy to sort things out.

[@barakathiongo4835]

Sorry bro. May he rest in peace🙏

[@Totally_Bonkers]

i hope your friend's whole "death" situation gets better

[@andrzej5045]

This reminds me of when I worked at a state's department of licensing headquarters. I was cancelling some old IDs and I accidentally clicked on the wrong person and cancelled some random person's ID. There was no way to go back or see what I just did so the management didn't care. It'll only suck if they get pulled over, in which case it'll really suck. Sorry random person...

[@pseudonymity0000]

Wow. Gov systems, however clunky they are, do keep an audit trail. Your management just couldn't be assed calling IT (or whoever has access to the audit data) to see what happened. if you know the time it happened, the cancelation request would have been logged and time stamped.

[@andrewweaver2517]

Was this in Alabama?

[@andrzej5045]

@@andrewweaver2517 No. West coast.

[@andrzej5045]

@@pseudonymity0000 Damn. This was years ago.

[@marble-q6j]

@@null7581 you're 5 months late to the comment and probably much later to the event, that's useless now

[@CatWithHumanEars]

This actually happened to my Grandfather-in-law and he has such a great sense of humor, I came over for Easter dinner and we did the normal "How are you?" "Oh fine how are you?" and he hits me with the "Oh y'know apparently I'm dead" which left me entirely speechless and confused until he explained.

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

LMAO what a guy

[@cedartheyeah.justyeah.3967]

Lol

[@incognito1783]

“Oh don’t bother going to court. You’ll be dead soon anyways-“

[@MeLoNarXo]

​@@MaryamMaqdisihow fitting that it was at Easter xD

[@bstelly]

"Bring out your dead..." "I'M NOT DEAD YET!"

[@gabrielulibarri9950]

Yes! You need more likes

[@tvdan1043]

I don't want to go on the cart!

[@tylerbentley14]

C'mon, he'll be dead before tomorrow.

[@Illfigureoutanamelater]

I feel... Happyyyyyyyy!!!!!

[@mirzaahmed6589]

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

[@TrendyGamer-is2wr]

"I thought you were dead" "My death was, greatly exaggerated"

[@nucleargoofball8043]

Metroman: *POWER FARTS* Tighten: Gah!!

[@SpruceOaks]

Correction: The DMF database is, itself, NOT public information. Individual death records, ARE public, but not the database that is the tabulation of all death records.

[@prometheus7387]

What is the implications of this?

[@kevinolson9940]

@@prometheus7387 more content for the all the errors we made videos

[@NFSHeld]

Doesn't he say that at 3:01, or is that something else?

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

What did the undertaker say when he buried the wrong body? "I've made a grave mistake."

[@mirzaahmed6589]

"I have undertaken to fix the issue."

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

@@mirzaahmed6589 Good one 😂

[@marthamryglod291]

There are so many stories of death causing complications. Like one where a subscription service wouldn't stop sending magazines to a widow because they require the subscriber to verbally cancel. He's dead!

[@andrewweaver2517]

Happened to my friend, he got pulled over and the cop told him that he was dead and that he legally could not drive the car and he had to have his parents come and get him and go immediately to the courthouse and figure out why he was "dead".

[@truebluekit]

@andy dettling this is what you did! for others, scroll above (or somewhere) until you find that name, read his comment LOL

[@roflcopterIII]

So fun fact: the ssa fixing you getting accidentally declared dead is called "performing a resurrection." Edrs can also take months to come in, so it's not a super great tool.

[@queenofnever9013]

This actually happened to my grandma when my grandpa died. She had to go through this whole process of the bank providing the info to prove to Social Security that she was alive. Though she had a lot of fun walking into the bank and Social Security and saying, "Hi! I'm alive!" She's got a great sense of humor and still laughs about it despite almost losing her benefits.

[@andreastrawoger3430]

I worked at IT for a hospital when we got a support ticket "Death person at the info counter". As it turned out the person was life and kicking, but was in urgent need of someone to manually hack the hospital database to be declared undead.

[@The-Plaguefellow]

You know, for a nation that's so keen on surveilling their citizens, they're awfully incompetent at actually keeping track of them.

[@mornananchy495]

Fun fact, my grandma was actually listed dead when her husband, my grandpa died. This is in Canada, but someone decided to list both as dead for some reason. Luckily that was corrected pretty quickly.

[@OfficialRishab]

Blud was serious when someone told him couples should live together at any situation or condition

[@amonia1766]

I'm not joking when I say this: a guy in my country once had to prove that he was alive to get social security benefit, and got everything right, but couldn't prove that he was alive the year prior and had the benefit negated.

[@Totally_Bonkers]

"couldn't prove that he was alive" the guy: sir, I am alive other person: total bs, you're clearly dead. the guy: but i- other person: nope the guy: but- other person: dead. no further statements.

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

LMAO poor guy

[@gustavo_crivelli]

Let me guess, Brazil

[@amonia1766]

@@gustavo_crivelli óbvio, né

[@TheEDFLegacy]

Here's the million-dollar question... If you rob a bank and get arrested, while you are listed as dead... can you be convicted of a crime?

[@oenrn]

What if you commit a crime and get the death penalty?

[@Nist0923]

These people are asking the big questions

[@waddledee6642]

Ferb i know what we’re gonna do today

[@LamborghiniDiabloSVPursuit]

You're still on the hook. If they believe to verify who you are, it gets added to your post-mortem criminal record. If they don't, you get tried as a John Doe.

[@franklind.roosevelt7416]

This would actually probably be a good way to get the government to recognize your living status as fast as possible. Although they’d probably just be doing to put you in prison as fast as they could.

[@evansavage3515]

“Hey chief ya biffed it” I’m dead 💀

[@Zachyshows]

Well let's help you out then

[@Ghiaman1334]

F

[@josephjoestar77]

Are you sure the record says that you're dead though?

[@therealruskiguy2583]

Rest In Peace you will be missed brother

[@brunosanchez1375]

It's always bizarre to hear how terrible is the social security system in america, a lot of this problems would be solved with a better system of ID

[@massimookissed1023]

One checksum digit in the SS number could help spot errors.

[@erichobbs4042]

That is because social security numbers are not supposed to be used for identification purposes. I believe that it even says that right on the card. Of course what is supposed to happen and what actually happens are two different things. I think Windover may have actually done a video on that very topic.

[@massimookissed1023]

@@erichobbs4042 , I vaguely remember CGP Grey doing a vid about SS cards being used for unintended purposes.

[@erichobbs4042]

@@massimookissed1023 Yeah, that makes more sense

[@DJMatGE]

Exactly what i thought too! I guess you also saw cpgGrey's video about that? ;)

[@lucystarlight8887]

I recently read a book called Unbroken, about a WWII pilot who after crashing in the Pacific was considered dead, while in reality he was in a Japanese POW camp for two years. He said his favorite thing to do when he got back home was give surprise visits to his old acquaintances who thought he was dead.

[@Blockhog]

They need to have a alive test, with questions like 1. Are you breathing? 2.are you responding to stimuli 3. Do you have a thirst for human flesh, brains, and or blood that can only be quenched by going out at night and finding a suitable victim to eat. That last one wouldent be a real question, their testing if your dead not if your a politician

[@patrickracer43]

I hate when I'm legally dead without actually being dead

[@arpitkumar4525]

The other way around is much nicer

[@e.v.squatch5835]

About 20 years ago I received a letter from the state claiming my wife was deceased (which came as a shock to us both). I spent 3 days on the phone trying to fix the problem - which was a funeral home somehow screwed up the SSN on a certificate of some kind and poof, she's now dead. After 3 days of arguments with state employees who have the IQ of slightly stale toast, I finally was able to convince them - By telling them that if she was really deceased, I had 2 minor children (5 and 7 at the time) who were entitled to survivors benefits dating back to the date of death. SUDDENLY, much like the biblical Lazarus himself, she was magically brought back from the dead - the minute they realized this was going to get EXPENSIVE.

[@hunngryento]

Each day that passes, the USA reminds me more of the Imperium in warhammer 40k.

[@federico339]

@Fax Fax in 2021? Just use e-mail

[@hedgehog3180]

Don't think the US is going to ever reach even a thousand years old though.

[@nathnathn]

Except in the imperium you would shot if the records said you were supposed to be dead.

[@dean_l33]

@@nathnathn Hey its a self correcting problem anyway

[@trent800]

@@nathnathn More efficient that way

[@blackfalcon1324]

There is a guy in romania who is legally listed as dead and his appeal to be declared not dead was rejected because he missed the appeals window.

[@zacross8504]

reminds me of something i heard about a guy in a european country. Dude moved to another country for work and several years later his wife submitted paperwork to say he was dead, several years after that, he tried going somewhere but was stopped and send back to his home country because he couldnt get updated paperwork or something (Because of being dead) and when he went to court to prove he was alive they were like "Sorry, cant do anything about it"

[@arpitkumar4525]

😂😂

[@pacificostudios]

My mother passed, and I was amazed how few people I had to inform. Social Security stopped her checks right away, and the Federal Retirement people and the Veterans Administration wrote me a letter stating that they had been informed that she was gone and please let contact them to let them know either way. Even the life insurance I collected on right away because they double-checked the obituaries online.

[@ReplayJay]

Next on Wendover products: The logistics of keeping a list of every united states citizen who is alive or dead.

[@VwhynotzoidbergV]

Love the "daily, between 1-8 billion people a day

[@Peripepp]

I work in a remote border hospital. Patients there don't always have BPJS (the Indonesian national health insurance), so sometimes their friend/family use their card for the patient. Sometimes the patient condition is beyond help and died eventually. Problem is, the patient is administered using other's card, so in the national database, it is the card owner who is declared dead…

[@TXnine7nine]

0:19 Now I’m sad because $7.99 for a 3 topping pizza is pretty good 😂

[@incognito1783]

“Here’s the thing about dying. It means your dead. But what if instead of being dead... you weren’t-” ... thank you- I.. I needed this reassurance. I’ve hit a hard patch in life and this really helps...

[@Rahulsinghkoli]

imagine : going to bank and doing a big money heist and then when police will come and arrest you and then judge will sentence you jail for lifetime but he can't cause you are already dead ! so they can't send you to jail just think about it !

[@autisticboi2992]

judge: i sentence you to life in prison me: *shows death certificate* can i go now? judge: ok

[@Rahulsinghkoli]

@@autisticboi2992 Exactly 😂 Now you can do anything without going to jail or sentence to death cuz you are already dead !

[@prime_optimus]

What if the judge resurrects you?

[@Rahulsinghkoli]

@@prime_optimus then, he can't punish me for things i done before resurrection cuz i was dead earlier !

[@oksowhat]

there is literally a movie about it in Bollywood, the struggles of being dead, lol

[@balpreetsingh6834]

It's based on the life of an actual person, to top it off.

[@TheYoutubeTick]

lol i came here to leave a comment about that movie. For anyone interested it is called "Kaagaz"

[@oksowhat]

@@TheKZbinTick hindi movie koi nahi dekhta bro

[@Think_Inc]

@@oksowhat That isn't very true, unless the movie hasn't been dubbed.

[@de132]

Lol the voice take on "You Just Got Widow-Ized" was perfect

[@boarbot7829]

RealLifeLore and HAI in the same day! It’s a good day! Edit: And WonderWhy and Polymatter!! Edit 2: And Veritasium!

[@99xs]

Very

[@Eli-fj3sc]

And Veritasium!!!

[@jf17thunder63]

Ikr!

[@Tank175]

Thanks for showing me WonderWhy, found a new nice channel.

[@Dhanes71]

What is HIA

[@AbsolXGuardian]

The scariest part is that this isn't something that happens so infrequently that every person whose been a victim of this is local news worthy at the least and are all in a chart on a Wikipedia in the style of everyone under 15 who has given live birth.

[@TheBaegislash]

I don't know if "Call the link on your screen" was intentional or not, but it's hilarious regardless

[@clvrswine]

OK, anime avatar. Grow up.

[@ofs5554]

@@clvrswine Says the guy who's still bullying random people on the internet.

[@TheBaegislash]

@@clvrswine I'm sorry your parents don't love you dude

[@butterflieslie5932]

Yes call them harassment and bullying people he lies just for money and fame

[@TheBaegislash]

@@butterflieslie5932 Come again?

[@magusperde365]

My problem is the opposite. I've felt dead for years and yet I'm still waking up, going to work, and crying

[@jeroddobson4680]

I called 1-800-NOT-LVNG and got an insurance company. WHERE'S MY PIZZA SAM?

[@henryginn7490]

Nice to know that as always the US has a robust and well thought out system to handle things

[@1212Nato]

This happened to my uncle after my mom passed away. They somehow mixed up Ruth and Russell and my uncle was “dead” instead of my mom for about a year

[@Chase3141]

"That's somewhere between 1 and 8 billion people a day" Thank you, HAI, that narrows it right down

[@LilacMonarch]

But what about 0 people? Surely there are at least a few days this doesn't happen

[@Chase3141]

@@LilacMonarch Well first of all, it's an average, not an exact number for each day. But second, if 7000 people are wrongfully declared legally dead every year (the low end of the estimate), and we assume they occur uniformly throughout the year, then the odds of it not happening at all on any given day are about 1 in 218,960,437, meaning it would happen on average once every 600,000 years

[@EibaProductions]

Funfact: In Germany, there's a private company (called Schufa) evaluating the credit worthyness of each citizen by analyzing payment data. And since they make mistakes, some people have been declared dead as well. And since they are a private company, they can do with their data what they want, and they can change the status of anyone by will. This has led to several incidences of people being declared dead, but also that an arrest warrant was pending. Or they are credit unworthy due to someone else in a different part of the country with no connections to that person hasn't paid one bill. Lots of such stuff.

[@Guitartube25]

Glad to see then, that the SCHUFA has recently been stripped of at least some of their power. Idiotic bastards, the whole lot.

[@adamtaylor766]

my great uncle was declared dead a while ago, its caused a lot of issues because that makes most companies not accept you anymore, including things like insurance. he's still alive, but it was very inconvenient when it happened. basically everything using social security gets messed up by being legally dead.

[@Thebreakdownshow1]

The Government won't let you be even when you are dead lol. Half as interesting I love your content always learning from your sense of humour for my own channel.

[@howardbaxter2514]

There is only one certainty in life, and that is taxes. Death is no longer such a certainty. Thanks bureaucracy!

[@kylerguyler4761]

@2:14 idk if im just disabled after grinding out schoolwork for 13 hours or if this is whack. How does 7k-12k people a year translate to every day ONE TO EIGHT BILLION PEOPLE DAILY? (if you precede the fact with "every day", then you don't need to spedficy "daily" at the end). Easy to nitpick when I should compliment. love your channels content and cant imagine how much work goes into each and every video. I enjoy HAI a ton. Perfect for ~5-10min breaks to eat inbetween studies or just to hear sams perfect voice. also dude these jokes are just the best thing in the world. "prank their widow" ahahahaha

[@GKplus8]

It's a joke. The joke being that the range spreads from 1 person to the total polulation of the earth, so the fact is technically true, but meaningless. Would be like saying "It's some number of people, but I don't feel like telling you how much." Sam has done these type of useless examples before ("a football field is larger than a pencil" type comparisons) but this one was more subtle because the correct information isn't obvious/well known, so without paying close attention you may miss it.

[@gmansplit]

It's a joke

[@WarwickSlater]

I heard people are dying to get into the DMF book

[@kkmac7247]

This should have more than 3 likes

[@shamiksinha4808]

There was a movie here in India which was based on the struggles of an old man (who had been declared dead) trying to fix his situation and dealing with corrupt and lazy government officers because otherwise, he would not get his pension. it was a comedy but carried a message strong and heavy... (Movie was Office Office in case you were wondering)

[@NinjaAgnostic]

Really thought the AI wrote this one again at the beginning

[@nolananderson4782]

I feel like this could be pretty easily rectified by the SSA issuing a letter to someone who had been falsely declared dead that says, "This person has been mistakenly listed as dead in the past, contact this phone number to verify"

[@FairyCRat]

Hearing Sam excited makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason

[@penguinvic4188]

Some years ago my passport expired. They usually notify you about this. Contacted Passports, got told I was dead. Contacted Births & Deaths only confirmed this. Got told things could be rectified if I could supply a valid passport. See the problem. Interestingly, almost all other government departments and businesses didn’t mind at all that I had died. Staff were either understanding or amused. Land rates (taxes) and Banks didn’t care so long as I paid up. Welfare was surprisingly good here, and accepted my confirming witness that I was still alive (they wouldn’t accept the word of a dead person). Drivers licenses were amused by this and said provided I obey road law, being dead shouldn’t be a problem. Airlines companies confirmed that dead usually travel in coffins in cargo, but they would make an exception in my case (but I couldn’t travel overseas). Water, Electricity, was no problem either. Businesses were okay with cash payments (credit from dead is more problematic). I could still vote (a worry if you think about it). So life (or death) still went on. I never did get my passport renewed or find out if Births & Deaths fixed the problem. But I dare not even ask them. Besides, being dead is not so bad and my social life has not suffered.

[@playgamepark]

So in a sense, its a sick game show hosted by the US Social Security in which unlucky winners will be treated as dead for all intents and purposes.

[@howardbaxter2514]

Welcome to government work. You thought the DMV bad, just wait until you are royally fucked by the SSA and IRS simultaneously.

[@jadenknott]

I had this happen to me and it screwed me over getting jobs and almost screwed me out of being a freshman in college. instead of having my dad being labeled deceased it they labeled me as deceased Happened around summer time

[@ARK613]

5:30 "Assuming you're not dead, live in the U.S., and pay for a cell phone plan...' Shucks, only two of those three apply to me.

[@Retaliatixn]

LMFAO, the Sponge-dead Square-passed got me.

[@YouAreBreathing]

0:14 "Call the link on your screen right now" No, I rather click on the phone number on my screen.

[@windspeed3990]

calling the number in the beginning transfers you to an insurance agent...

[@lukaszbielanin]

What bugs me most is that DFM AND DMF is used for the same things.

[@ScooterinAB]

I was hoping this would touch on situations like missing persons being declared dead and then turning up.

[@lennon2490]

Docter: "sorry he passed away" Me: **crying** Docter: "haha, sike. He is doing well. But now i fucked you guys financially". Me: **Having a mental breakdown**

[@abbycaldwell3166]

Gotta say there's some fantastic choices of stock footage for this video. A+

[@Dumb-Comment]

What if you were dead before being dead but then died, would you be listed as "Dead-dead"

[@massimookissed1023]

Dead²

[@talkalexis]

Dead²

[@cadenorris4009]

Name checks out lol

[@paddyj7690]

"Daily, that's 1-8 billion per day" I did not understand that.

[@dobman01]

"the ssa has proposed a way to fix the problem" well that sounds like bs "its someone elses problem" I stand corrected

[@tylerpeterson4726]

To be fair, government agencies identifying that their responsibilities are already being handled elsewhere in the government is a good thing. No need to duplicate effort.

[@unitrader403]

@@tylerpeterson4726 This doesnt apply to the Department of Redundancy Department though.

[@kams8759]

loving the energy from sam lately

[@Guderian0617]

If you are legally dead and you commit a crime, can they sue you for it?

[@vladimirenlow4388]

I remember hearing about a movie involving a man who faked his death and framed his wife for it, and after she got out of prison she tried to kill him, under the justification that she couldn't be arrested for killing a "dead" man. I don't recall it doing well at the box office, which is probably why I can't remember the title.

[@megarockman]

@@vladimirenlow4388 Double Jeopardy. Which isn't what the term actually means in law, but Hollywood, so...

[@sydneymomma11]

"Or SpongeBob SquarePassed?" I laughed so hard I had to rewind! Subbed.

[@danielmarsden4573]

2:20 I’m not even sure what you were intending to say here but 7000-12000 divided by 365 is defo not between 1-8 billion.

[@Pence912]

It was a joke. Between one person and 8 billion people, not one billion to 8 billion people

[@namenamename390]

No, not between 1 Billion and 8 Billion, between 1, as in a singular one, and 8 Billion

[@welchphilip]

between one and eight billion aka everyone on the planet, not one billion to eight billion

[@Lvjy]

It is, the values go between 19 and 39 which is between 1 and 8000000000

[@danielmarsden4573]

Not funny, didn’t laugh

[@jacklight2752]

I'm probably missing something obvious, but in the video he says between 7,000 and 12,000 people are wrongly listed annually. But then says "Daily, thats somewhere between 1 and 8 billion people a day"

[@gmansplit]

It's called a joke

[@jacobdockter3436]

true story SSI had me as dead once. it wasn't in the actual main SC system but they were like yeah we need you to come into office, turns out they had called my phone number, someone said I was dead. that's it. but then they saw I got income from dividends and was using my Medicaid still (my state has program with Medicaid for people on SSI who went to work under certain amount yada yada) . had to go into office give them ID lol

[@NoodleProductions]

On the bright side, if you’re already legally dead, you can’t be legally murdered.

[@chongjunxiang3002]

Imagine a legally dead people commit all the crime he want because legally, a court cannot charge a dead person...but since dead person will lost their constitutional protection, actually government can make up charges that can do whatever they want lol

[@melodywawichi802]

Today I learned that deadbeat is an actual word and not something the Grim Reaper’s apprentice made up.

[@thomas3236]

same

[@michaelsmith4904]

"Or, if you were born after 1969, never."

[@T.h.w.T]

3:44 it's been 3:44 minutes, not 4, add this to your every mistake you've ever made video series

[@StefanVeenstra]

There should be no argument about who's fault it is, the argument should be about how to fix it. And yes, if private companies erroneously deny people service they would otherwise be eligible for, an apology isn't enough. Retroactive compensation is the least they can do.

[@chlorophylte7487]

1:20 intentional?

[@kiradotee]

Some of the stock footage fits so well it's insane.

[@billyyank2198]

"Is he dead?" "Well yes, but actually no."

[@brostrod]

I wonder how many children have been declared dead by the SSA but just haven't noticed because they're children and have no benefit payments to lose/no reason to get a loan

[@Warbugzz]

"They say the ghost of an oooold miner haunts the mountain..." "What? Haha, nah, that's just Pete!" "Pete's DEAD?!" "NOPE! Pete's only *mostly* dead. There's a big difference."

[@SilasWilloughby]

In case anyone was wondering that phone number goes to an insurance agency

[@GaraxyAurora]

“1-8 billion people a day” I guess we will all die then within one to 7 days

[@matthewmcewen1]

I cant believe i had to scroll this far to find someone talking about this. Cannot make sense of his sentence at all.

[@gmansplit]

@@matthewmcewen1 It's called a joke

[@matthewmcewen1]

@@gmansplit you have got to be kidding. i was saying i couldnt make sense of the video, and was surprised the original comment was the first comment talking about it. and yes, his joke was rather obvious

[@Yellowsam4145]

*Breaks out of grave* wait I'm not dead IRS: "shhhh *push* you are" AH- *thud*

[@Dats_Mark]

How is "Death Master File" NOT a Metal Band Name?

[@akaltar]

Kudos to the animator for that smooth transition to the youtube ting link popup! Give this person a tip so they can treat their partner for a nice dinner!

[@dermittelfinger5903]

As a European I always enjoy to see that the richest country in the world is basically a giant banana republic just because they think change is evil.

[@erraticonteuse]

As an American, I can detect no lies, falsehoods, inaccuracies, nor misunderstandings in this statement.

[@NikkyElso]

I literally have read through these comments and came across one saying the same thing can happen in the Netherlands too. Also saw stories of it happening in Canada as well.. So go take your anti-american euro-nationalism elsewhere.

[@dermittelfinger5903]

@@NikkyElso ofcourse this can happen in Europe. Do you know what can happen in Europe too? You can get shot, go to prison, get bankrupt on medical bills or school loans, get murdered by the police, being sued for obvious bullshit and lose non the less. All these things can happen in Europe but are much more likely to take place in the USA. My comment wasn't anti American but a little joke. If you want to hear what's horrible in Europe just ask me and I will tell you. No country or union in that case is perfect and all of them have their problems. But I see a lot of easy fixes for some of those in the USA but it wont happen because you cling to a piece of paper written 200 years ago and just dont want to change anything about it. You have surely good fixes for EU problems, that we are too stubborn to go through with. My friend, dont take stuff so super seriously if someone criticizes your country. In fact this is a sign that someone deeply cares about it and only wants the best for it.

[@mirzaahmed6589]

I'm not dead, just dead inside.

[@8KTraveler]

At 2:24 it should be between "19-32 people per day" not 1-8 billon people

[@kulrigalestout]

Well. I guess that explains why when I managed my father's estate I got a letter saying that there was a potential event that could have damaged his credit score. Doesn't explain why I would have gotten a letter at my new house for the previous occupant saying the same thing, though, considering she had been dead for over a year.

[@nefariousalex1289]

I’m never dying

[@licoriceluv906]

3:34 Come on that was such a perfect chance to say imposter lol