Society
The incredible story of a woman in Maryland who could not renew her driver’s license because she was dead according to the government
Ever wondered what it would be like to be dead? For one Maryland woman who was surprised to find out that she had been declared dead, it was a living hell.

Many often wonder what life is like after death and we all have our visions of it. However, for one Maryland woman, Nicole Paulino, she got to experience it for real, albeit she had not really passed away.
Paulino’s living dead story began in November when she went to renew her driver’s license and the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles said it wasn’t possible given that she was deceased. “I got a little frightened, I’m not gonna lie, and surprised, because I am alive. I’m here,” Paulino told NBC News4. That was just the beginning of a living hell.
The purgatory of being declared dead
Her experience of being dead while still very much alive turned into a nightmare that “really, really” messed up her life and has affected her “a lot.” Paulino says dealing with the situation and the problems it has caused has affected her physical and mental health.
Not only could she not renew her driver’s license but the IRS sent her a letter which read “deceased taxpayer.” Furthermore, her health insurance and that of her three kids was canceled. The latter had the knock-on effect that Paulino was unable to get the inhaler that she needs to treat her asthma. Additionally, her insurer was no longer covering her medical bills leading to them piling up.
Paulino told News4 that she had been trying to find out how it came to be that she had been declared dead for over a month without getting anywhere. Then about a week after reporters at the news outlet began making inquiries she received a letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) informing her that she was in fact alive and apologized “for any inconvenience” that the mistake in their records had caused.
The SSA called Paulino to let her know that it was because of a typo at a funeral home that she found herself being declared dead. When the funeral parlor had reported the death of another person, they had gotten a digit of the Social Security number wrong leading to Paulino’s surprise death.
Not a one-off example
According to a statement from the SSA that News4 received, the agency said its records are highly accurate. Out of the over 3 million death reports that it receives each year, fewer than one-third of one percent require correction after the fact. However, News4 points out that that means 10,000 contain errors annually.
How to bring yourself back from the dead
According to the information that was provided to NBC4, The Social Security Administration advises to contact them as soon as possible so that immediate action can be taken. You will have to provide at least one form of current ID they said.
Receiving the letter from the SSA saying that you are alive will be key to coming back from the dead. This will allow you to then fix all of the other problems that your untimely and frustrating passing on paper created.
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