Man Presumed Dead is Alive

Social Security Case Gains National Attention

Clinic students recently handled a Social Security benefits case that received national attention, including an invitation to appear on ABC’s Good Morning America show.

Clinic client, Judith Sullivan-Anderson, was informed by the Social Security Administration that her husband, who had previously been presumed deceased, was believed to be alive. Ms. Sullivan-Anderson was told that she had to repay some $90,000 she had received in Social Security widow’s benefits.

Judith Sullivan-Anderson’s husband, Jack Sullivan, disappeared from their home in Temecula, California, in June of 1991.  In June of 1999, an Administrative Law Judge determined that Jack C. Sullivan was deceased for the purpose of making Ms. Sullivan-Anderson eligible for widow’s benefits.  Ms. Sullivan-Anderson received widow’s benefits until May 2007 when the Social Security Administration informed her that Jack Sullivan was alive and she had been receiving benefits in error.

Clinic students filed a request that the alleged Social Security overpayment be waived on the grounds that Ms. Sullivan was free from fault and financially unable to pay.  The request was granted by the Social Security Administration. Nevertheless, questions remained about whether or not the Jack C. Sullivan discovered by the Social Security Administration was actually Ms. Sullivan-Anderson’s husband who had disappeared in 1991. Initial evidence disclosed by the Social Security Administration was inconclusive.

Later evidence confirmed that the Jack Sullivan alleged to still be alive was, in fact, the same person that had disappeared without a trace 16 years earlier. The evidence suggested that Mr. Sullivan had spent considerable time in the mid-east working under an altered Social Security number.

At this time Ms. Sullivan-Anderson is considering her legal options regarding her relationship with her husband Jack C. Sullivan.