To her surprise, she’s not a widow
CHATTAROY, Spokane County - A woman who has been fighting to regain widow’s benefits has learned that Social Security Administration officials were right - her husband is still alive.
Judy Sullivan, 66, of Chattaroy, was recently given proof that a man who identified himself as Jack Sullivan in an undisclosed East Coast location was the man who unaccountably left her 16 years ago after 25 years of marriage, The Spokesman-Review of Spokane reported.
Judy Sullivan is hospitalized because of illness and cannot comment, said Lawrence A. Weiser, clinical-law-program director at Gonzaga University, where she had gone for help.
The initial investigation was triggered by a man’s application for a Social Security card and driver’s license, and identification was confirmed through interviews and a digital photograph showing a distinctive scar on his nose.
The Sullivans wed in 1966 and lived in Spokane until he moved his well-drilling business to Temecula, Calif., where he disappeared on June 11, 1991, after calling his wife to meet him for lunch.
A judge declared him legally dead in 1999, and his wife began receiving monthly Social Security checks of $867. Earlier this year, officials said he had been located, stopped the checks and demanded she repay more than $90,000.
At least Sullivan, who is disabled and lives in a rented trailer, won’t be dunned for the $90,000. Social Security officials have waived the demand for repayment, the newspaper reported.
Officials said privacy laws bar Social Security from putting her in contact with him or disclosing his whereabouts or other personal information.