State Deems Living Man To Be Dead

The Living Dead – Man Has to Sue NY Three Times to Prove He’s Alive

In March 2009, a man named Juan Arias passed away at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. However, the man who died was not Juan Antonio Arias, 57, even though it was his Social Security number as well as his date of birth that were put on the death certificate of the other is Mr. Arias. This death certificate was then filed with the city. It essentially turned him into a living dead man, at least according to New York. Well, the city didn’t even acknowledge the living part for quite a while.

Finding Out You Are Dead

In fact, the living Mr. Arias did not even know he was supposed to be dead until around a year later when his Medicaid benefits were mysteriously cut off. Not only that, but his bank accounts closed. His credit cards were canceled, as well. It seemed as though strange things were afoot, and he did not know why.

It took him a while to figure out what happened, and when he did, he figured it would only take a short time to get things squared away. Poor Mr. Arias had no idea what he was in for. Even though he was very obviously alive, the city of New York did not believe him and would not take him at face value. Therefore, he had to prove that he was alive, and that he would have to file a lawsuit against New York.

He filed his first lawsuit, which didn’t work out in his favor. It wasn’t because they were unsure of whether he was alive or not. The problem with this particular lawsuit was that his lawyer failed to show up to court. That is not something that typically puts much faith in the client’s mind. Of course, perhaps the attorney thought Mr. Arias, was dead as well!

So, Mr. Arias decided that he would just file a second lawsuit, and that’s what he did. This time, he thought there was no way he would be denied the right to be considered alive by New York. However, his attorney did him another solid. This time, the attorney missed a legal deadline, which meant Mr. Arias was still technically dead according to New York. The third time was the charm. According to a city lawyer, the only thing he had to do on the third lawsuit was present proof of identity.

While this certainly seems humorous, because it is, problems with a person’s identity can be serious. Whether you are mistakenly believed to be dead or because someone has stolen your identity, it can change your life for the worse.

Now that Mr. Arias is confirmed to be among the living once again, it might be time that he started to figure out how to find a better attorney. After all, if he had a better attorney in the first place, he wouldn’t have had to sue the city of New York three times just to be allowed to “live”.