Story of Justice: CCLA Assists to Unfreeze Estelle’s Bank Account and Obtain Spousal Benefits

Estelle, a senior, applied for benefits based on her former husband’s record (former spouse passed away). Social Security required that Estelle provide copies of the marriage/death certificates. Estelle met with Social Security, provided all requested documents and started receiving the benefits. However, the Social Security representative inserted Estelle’s name and Social Security number on the line designated for the decedent’ information which ultimately made it appear Estelle was the deceased party. This caused a snowball effect where her SSI benefits were stopped, the spousal benefits were stopped, Social Security issued two SSI payments of $914 in error causing an $1,828 overpayment and her bank account was frozen because a death alert was put on her account. Estelle had to rely on the generosity of her friends and personal loans to carry her through while she tried to get Social Security to correct the error.

Estelle tried in vain to get her bank account unfrozen and social security monies returned to her. She came to Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida for help. We reached out to our contact at the Area Director’s Office for assistance in correcting the error.

After constant communication between our CCLA office and the Area Director’s Office, and communication between the bank and the Area Director’s Office, the error was finally corrected.

Estelle received $1,625 in back benefits, the $1,828 overpayment was waived, and she was awarded monthly spousal benefits of $2,025. Estelle was very thankful for our assistance.

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