# Anybody else receive a stimulus check for a dead relative? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 6, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286 "2020-05-06T18:15:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/1 "2020-05-06T18:15:21Z")
Just got a stimulus check yesterday. Addressed to my deceased mother-in-law, c/o Mrs. Martian (who was executor of my MIL’s estate). MIL died in 2018, we filed a final tax return last year. The IRS knows she’s deceased, it says “DECD” right net to her name on the check. I can see this happening if someone has died since their most recent return, but issuing a check a full year after filing a return with the “Final return” box checked is just moronic. Most advice I can find online is to not touch the money, eventually treasury will figure it out and ask for it back. I assume since the check is written c/o Mrs. Martian that she technically could endorse and deposit it into her own account (any joint account with her mother is long since closed). I assume if I hang onto the check all I will need to do if they come calling for the money is to send it back? FWIW Mrs. Martian and I do not qualify for the stimulus… ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/2 "2020-05-06T18:27:44Z")
There’s one thing I would not do is cash that check. There’s obviously a record that exists.It might be years later but you’ll get caught. It’s sort of like not paying your taxes. It’s all going fine for a while and then one day in the mailbox… and your life is changed with substantial penalties and interest. Plus you’ll probably worry until that happens. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/3 "2020-05-06T18:31:17Z")
Nothing earth-shattering, but you’re not the only one. They’ll come and get in eventually and they recommend you don’t cash it or anything. > **[Stimulus checks: What happens to payments sent to deceased Americans?](https://abc13.com/coronavirus-us-news-cares-act-economic-impact-payments/6156436/)** > > Millions of deceased Americans received an economic impact payment, leaving their surviving relatives wondering what to do with them. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/4 "2020-05-06T18:35:17Z")
I got one for my deceased mother. I deposited it in my savings account using mobile deposit after I endorsed it, _“ThelmaLou Fife, Executor of Mary Lou Fife.”_ This was on the advice of my tax preparer. I’ve been reading about the thousands of other people who have gotten these checks, and somewhere I saw a regulation (didn’t make a note of it) that said if the IRS/Treasury sends you money and it’s THEIR mistake, you can keep it. I don’t plan to spend it, and if someday someone wants it back, I’ll return it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/5 "2020-05-06T18:52:13Z")
My mother passed away on March 2, and last week we received her stimulus check. My brother tells me someone received a check for his father, who’s been dead 15 years. I told my brother we need to make sure my mother is registered to vote in November.😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/6 "2020-05-06T18:56:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > My mother passed away on March 2, and last week we received her stimulus check. My brother tells me someone received a check for his father, who’s been dead 15 years. > > I told my brother we need to make sure my mother is registered to vote in November.😉 Hell, in Texas dead people vote routinely. 😉 Our motto is “Vote early and often.” Not to be flippant-- I’m sorry about your mom. Was that March of 2020? Was she in Panama? Hugs to you… your first Mother’s Day without her coming up… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/7 "2020-05-06T19:59:52Z")
[Article from CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/politics/irs-stimulus-checks-dead-people/index.html): > [@](#): > > It was previously unclear whether family members could keep the money, but the IRS now says the full payment must be returned, unless the deceased was married and filed tax returns jointly with a spouse who is still alive. In that case only the portion of the payment belonging to the deceased needs to be returned, the agency said. If the couple received $2,400, for example, $1,200 needs to be sent back. > > If a check was received, it must be mailed back to the Treasury Department. If the check was cashed or the payment was directly deposited into the bank account, the IRS is asking people to send a personal check or money order. Further instructions were [posted online by the IRS](https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payment-information-center#more). ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/8 "2020-05-06T20:02:54Z")
There is a box on the envelope that says, “If recipient is deceased check here and drop in mailbox.” The problem is the address on the check reads: Marvin’s Mother-in-Law DECD % Mrs. Martian 216 Imaginary Canal Street Red Sand City, Mars so I interpreted the “recipient” as being Mrs. Martian so I opened the envelope. In any case we’ll just stash the check somewhere until someone comes looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/9 "2020-05-06T20:10:16Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > [Article from CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/politics/irs-stimulus-checks-dead-people/index.html): That article says: > [@](#): > > The IRS has to cross-check with another federal agency to get a list of the deceased. This may be true in the case of someone who died since their last tax return but it is clearly not the case here. They know she is deceased - it says so right on the check. The IRS was told she was deceased when her final return was filed last year. Not saying that that means we get to keep the money, just that it is an even bigger clusterfuck than CNN is reporting. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/10 "2020-05-06T21:02:20Z")
Stick that check right back in the mail and hope it gets to the correct place?? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-receive-a-stimulus-check-for-a-dead-relative/853286/11 "2020-05-06T21:35:06Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Not saying that that means we get to keep the money, just that it is an even bigger clusterfuck than CNN is reporting. That _DECD_ is on the check at all bothers me. Sounds either like somebody put the death notifier on the wrong line of the database or else like they pulled data from a system that isn’t fully compatible with their own.