{"id":4299,"date":"2026-06-12T04:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4299"},"modified":"2026-06-12T04:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:01:15","slug":"texas-man-declared-dead-by-social-security-forced-to-prove-he-was-alive-after-benefits-stopped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4299","title":{"rendered":"Texas man declared dead by Social Security forced to prove he was alive after benefits stopped"},"content":{"rendered":"<div> <!-- --> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> &#8211; <\/span>A Texas man says he spent weeks trying to convince the Social Security Administration that he was still alive after receiving a condolence letter informing him of his own death. The error halted his disability payments, leaving him unable to pay rent, buy groceries or maintain his wheelchair while he made multiple trips to a Social Security office to restore his benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4297\">Family continues calls for justice after deputy fired in John Mendoza Jr. shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Texas man declared dead by Social Security had to prove he was alive to continue benefits<\/h2>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have learned of the passing of Anthony Morales,&#8221; says the letter from Social Security.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>Social Security Administration was sending its sincerest condolences.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>But there&#8217;s a problem. The person reading the letter was Anthony Morales, who was not dead, and looking at a negative balance on his account. That&#8217;s because Social Security thought Anthony was dead, so they stopped sending him his disability checks.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>It put him two months behind.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t afford rent. I can&#8217;t afford groceries. I can&#8217;t afford maintenance on my wheelchair,&#8221; said Morales.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4295\">Texas AG warning Big 12 about sanctioning Texas Tech following recent court order regarding Brendan Sorsby<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>He says he had to make four trips to the Social Security Office to convince them he was alive.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>On the fourth trip, he had to write on a document, &#8220;I&#8217;m still alive.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>We reached out to Social Security on Anthony&#8217;s behalf. He says he was told his case is being expedited, and he should have his payments in three to seven business days.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4292\">Ban on Big Bend border wall fails in U.S. House committee<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <!-- --> <!-- --> <!-- --> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Texas man says he spent weeks trying to convince the Social Security Administration that he was still alive after receiving a condolence letter informing him of his own death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8,12,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-houston","category-news","category-texas","category-top-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Texas man declared dead by Social Security forced to prove he was alive after benefits stopped - 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