Dead Man Keeps Paying Bills

Sunday, October 10, 2004


Electronic banking can have its down side.

A Winnipeg, Manitoba, man died nearly two years ago, but thanks to automatic bill payments, no one noticed.

"How can that happen, for God's sake? Two years!" exclaimed Sam Shuster, a neighbor of Jim Sulkers, to the Canadian Press wire service.

"I used to ask the president of the [condominium] board of directors 'Where in the hell is he?'" Shuster added. "She said all she knew was the bank gets the monthly money, so we don't worry about it."

Sulkers, said to be in his 50s, suffered from multiple sclerosis (search). The province's chief medical examiner said his mummified corpse bore no sign of trauma, though an exact cause of death could not be determined.

A cousin, Kim Dyck, who lives across town, said she hadn't been in contact with Sulkers for about 10 years, but added that some other relatives had gone by his apartment last summer.

"They knocked on his door and he didn't answer," Dyck said. "You assume he isn't home. You certainly don't assume he's dead."

Dyck said she figured automatically deposited pension payments had kept Sulkers' bank account in the black.

Neighbors said his mailbox had filled up several times, but was regularly emptied by the mailman.

A Canada Post spokesman said mailmen were supposed to let supervisors know when that happened.

Sulkers' body was finally discovered on Aug. 25. A newspaper in the apartment was dated Nov. 21, 2002, and a calendar on the wall was open to the same month.

"It's odd that we live in a society where technology can take care of our affairs like that, even if we passed away two years ago, and nobody's noticed," said Marcel Baril, executive director of the Winnipeg Family Centre.


link

The opposite also happens all too frequently..........................dead person collecting social security for years afterwards.....................................................

Quoted: The opposite also happens all too frequently..........................dead person collecting social security for years afterwards.....................................................

Where does it end up?  I mean, once its discovered.

Wow... I wonder if it even smelled bad anymore, or if the rot had gone away.

Wow thats wierd. Sounds almost like an episode of this anime I watched.

Anyone ever heard of  "Ghost in the Shell." Its set in the future about 2030, it has cyborgs and all other stuff like that.

Anyways they made a series about it, and one of the episodes is titled "Automated Capitalism."

Its about this really rich guy who is reclusive, and some Chinese/communist assassin is going to kill him, but they stop the assassin in the guys mansion, when they find the guy he is laying dead in his bed and his body is all decomposing.

The reason he was so reclusive was that he died years earlier, but before he died he made a program that would automatically work the stock market and make him money.

Quoted: Quoted: The opposite also happens all too frequently..........................dead person collecting social security for years afterwards..................................................... Where does it end up?  I mean, once its discovered.

I would imagine that whoever has been cashing the checks skips out and we foot the bill, yay!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The opposite also happens all too frequently..........................dead person collecting social security for years afterwards..................................................... Where does it end up?  I mean, once its discovered. I would imagine that whoever has been cashing the checks skips out and we foot the bill, yay!

Roger that.  I guess I assumed they were being deposited into an account - e-transfer, etc.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The opposite also happens all too frequently..........................dead person collecting social security for years afterwards..................................................... Where does it end up?  I mean, once its discovered. I would imagine that whoever has been cashing the checks skips out and we foot the bill, yay! Roger that.  I guess I assumed they were being deposited into an account - e-transfer, etc.

I believe the Fed can recover those funds from the estate.... of course, if some leech is drawing out of the account, see result #1

Quoted: Wow... I wonder if it even smelled bad anymore, or if the rot had gone away.

It's Canada.  Who'd notice?

Well I dont have anything autopay.

Still has me wonder if I ran up all my CC debt and died of natural cuases or even committed suicide would it have to be paid back, and by who?

I guess everyone is eventually going to have to get an "e-mail deadmans switch".  That is a system where if you don't log into an account after a pre-set number of days it automatically sends out emails that you've composed to addresses you've selected.

With more and more automated systems taking care of the normal background finances like this guy had, it's going to be the only hope for a lot of people that they'll get noticed when they croak.

I know in my case that there would be a *LOT* of places I owe money to, banging down the door if I kick off.  

Hopefully someone will let people I know online, which is mostly here know when I die

Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. The place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me.

Quoted: Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. The place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me.

Not following this at all........

Got to have my computer e-mail everyone automaticly when I die.

Goodfellas.

Not much to do with the story, but it was the first thing I thought of when I read the thread title.

Quoted: Got to have my computer e-mail everyone automaticly when I die.

No Problem.....


.....last email DOT com

Quoted: Quoted: Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. The place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me. Not following this at all........

He is quoting a line from the movie GOODFELLAS. Henry Hill, the main character, is narrating a scene where the mechanics of mob business were being explained.

Quoted: The opposite also happens all too frequently..........................dead person collecting social security for years afterwards.....................................................

That is not supposed to happen anymore, when my dad died, the County Registar/Recorders' office received a death cert from our family physcian, right away the county sent out a notice to SSA and they discontinued my dad SSA benefits, they paid him until exact month he died.

Quoted: Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. The place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me.

don't you mean fuck you pay me, FOR SERVICES RENDERED!?????


TXL

The sad part is, it took me three times of reading that to get it.