To the editor:
The government paid $1.4 billion in stimulus money to the deceased. My deceased wife received her $1,200.
While looking at my checking account online on April 14, I noticed a deposit of $2,400. A few days later, I received a letter addressed to "Richard and Diane Deceased Huber." The return address on the envelope was the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service. The letter head listed ‘The White House’ and was signed by President Donald Trump.
So I assumed that the IRS and President Trump knew my wife had passed away last year. What was I thinking?
Free handouts feel good but for a deceased spouse? Too often it is easy to forget our federal debt, payable by the next generations, when the money is flowing our direction.
So I reported to two Indiana congressional offices and was told by one congressman that I really didn’t need to do anything. The other office did not have a solution but told me to call back in three weeks if I had not heard from the government. I still have not heard from the government.
Just before the three-week period ended, an AARP notice alerted that stimulus money received for a deceased person should be returned. I mailed a check for $1,200 on May 11 with notice of my wife’s passing and her identification. It has not yet been cashed.
Should the government have been more careful to whom they gave stimulus money? Is everyone entitled or in need of stimulus money? Will one branch of the government cash the mailed check for my deceased wife’s share while another branch of the government thinks it can withdraw her $1,200 from my account?
Hopefully all receiving stimulus money for deceased members will return the $1.4 billion. Hopefully, but very doubtful. Would someone remind me that honesty pays?
Dick Huber
Greenwood
