Social Security payments vanish after Arizona man’s death date mixed up
GLENDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — Barbara Limmer’s dad passed away in February, just a few days shy of his 98th birthday. She celebrated his life, then got to work getting his estate in order.
Imagine her surprise when she logged into his bank account and discovered 12 big debits on the same day. “I called the bank, and they said the date that they were given from Social Security that he died was February 2024,” Limmer said. “He died in 2025.”
Same day. Wrong year. “So, on one day there are 12 debits on his bank account for each of the 12 months of Social Security payments,” Limmer said.
When she contacted Social Security, she faced hours-long call wait times. She was told she needed an in-person appointment. That was another two-and-a-half week wait.
“They told me that the year of his death has since been corrected in their system,” Limmer said. “None of the money has come back.”
The mix-up on Limmer’s father’s account is happening as the Trump administration announced a new Social Security memorandum aimed at cracking down on fraud in the system.
“These taxpayer-funded benefits should be only for eligible taxpayers,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“You hear stories about people dying and continuing to get payments. Well, this is the opposite,” Limmer said. “Social Security mis-keyed the year of his death and took a year’s worth of payments that were valid, so I just wanted to get the word out that mistakes happen that hurt us, the innocent people.”
According to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, her office has received more than 300 complaints from Arizonans about a range of problems with Social Security, including phone service issues and payment disruptions after recent staff cuts at SSA. SSA says it spent $16.5 million last month to modernize its telephone system.
“I think there absolutely is a lot of confusion,” said Dana Marie Kennedy, the AARP Arizona State Director. “AARP has been fighting back on some of the proposed changes to SSA and we want to make sure that people are able to get the customer service that they deserve.”
When On Your Side reached out to SSA for Limmer, a spokesperson said, “Privacy laws preclude us from discussing specifics of a case, but we will reach out to Ms. Limmer directly and assist.” They did, and soon after, all 12 months’ worth of payments were returned to the account.
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