My Payee for SSD Kept Taking my SSD for years, I need help.

[rnsills]

I was on SSD when I came to Thailand. My payee was my wife that ran off with a wealthy guy. I came here and never returned. She kept taking my money after I turned 65 also. I begged her for the money, she did send some part of the money for the past 3 years. I tried to get the SS in my name. I told the worker in the US hub in the Philippines, and they ended the payments to her last July. I went to a hospital here and legally examined and found in the right mind to handle my own payments. 7 months later my SS was approved to be sent directly to me. My ex, I think I am still married, sent a paper to SS saying she had taken care of me through 1/2016 at which time I ran off to Thailand. This was on record at the SS. I reported fraud several times to the hotline. I called my worker in the USA, they said I have to open a fraud report though the embassy and knew nothing about me reporting fraud before. This amounts to about $200,000. I cannot find a lawyer to deal with this. I am also a US Veteran. All that is needed is a lawyer or legal rep to actually get somebody in SS to take a look at this. I have been treated here for 20 for a blood disease I have had for 30 years. I could not get a job in the USA because of this problem. I am also a US vet. A lawyer could charge, pro bono, as much as $40,000 for this very simple situation. I would be happy to resolve this situation if that were possible. Any help from anybody would be appreciated. I could open a fraud report, however, I see no point as it was reported before and nobody listened. I have proof of 20 years of medical care in Thailand and proof I was never under in care in the USA. She also kept me on Medicare, meaning $100 a month out of my SSD check which I will probably never will get back. I cannot live without monthly visits to the doctor and medicine.

 

Any help would be appreciated. 

[Kwasaki]

What's SSD ?

All l know is it's a portable hard drive.

[lopburi3]

I believe he means Social Security Disability Payments.  But most of post remains a maze in my mind.   He mentions being a vet so probably should contact those in that group here for help and guidance, and not depend on doing himself.  If he said where he was located perhaps someone could contact him.

[gk10002000]

I think I gather that the OP had his SSD payments set up to be sent to his wife or her bank account.  Maybe he felt she was better to handle the money and deal with things than he was.  Maybe he didn't quite have the mental desire or capability to deal with the financial things.  I would have thought that unless the account had his name on it, that couldn't be done, or maybe she had some power of attorney?  Or maybe the direct deposit paperwork was a bit off but good enough to get the money to her.

[rnsills]

OK, the situation was that I was on social security disability when I can here 20 years ago. My wife back in the states was the payee and refused to give me any money. I recently was able to get SS payments in my own name. I need a lawyer to deal with all the money I am owed since Social security will not listen to me. I have sent them detail information about the situation. Seeking an American lawyer in Thailand or anybody that knows anything that will help. If anybody can help leading to recovery of the money, you could be rewarded 20k or more for helping me fix the situation, or a percentage of what I can recover.

[geriatrickid]

Stop it. this reads like either the ramblings of someone who is mentally  ill or a someone looking to  effect a fraud. From your ramblings, it is obvious you have a problem. Whether it is real or fictitious, I do not know,  and it is not something that can successfully be dealt with here. If the Veterans Administration or Social Security Administration is not responding to you, there may be a very good reason. It will not, nor can it be addressed here.

 

 If your wife was the payee then there was legal documentation to that effect. If she is your ex, there may be a registered court judgement awarding her a portion of  the social security payments. We do not know. 

 

If you are serious, then you will call the US embassy and make an appointment to meet with a consular official. That person can assist you and can put you in touch with the appropriate people,  and even help set up an appointment with the people you will need to see in the USA. You will need to approach your appointment with the embassy in a sober coherent manner. Thai Visa is not the place to seek legal advise on an issue of this complexity.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2016 by geriatrickid

[rnsills]

Thanks for your insights and suggestions in regards to the matter. I don't think you are capable to make an assessment on my current mental health. I can assure you it is not fraud, and I have evidence for the situation I am describing. I did in fact talk to the government over a year ago. They said they would take care of it. I contacted them about 4 weeks ago and the person on the hotline claimed they have never heard from me, I was not in the USA so I would have to file a fraud report through the Embassy. I have already filed reports by email and in several online calls. Nobody has ever asked me to prove I have been out of the USA for 20 years. I was hoping perhaps I would find a retired lawyer or somebody that might have an idea. The fact I am not in the USA currently, makes it more difficult to talk to any US Lawyers. The USA has no ombudsman. I didn't get the money I was supposed to, I can prove that. The person in involved claims all the money was used on me for my care in the USA for the past 20 years. They also can afford lawyers and have help trying to avoid being prosecuted for SS fraud. I have tried to find International lawyers here in Thailand, so far, nobody will handle this situation. It you handle it though the Embassy as suggested, there is no guarantee the right person will ever look at the matter or do anything about it. If I can find the right person to work on it, such as the VA or an International Lawyer, they will follow us the situation and present the fact in a manner that will be understandable.  Not receiving money is not that complex. I suspect if you was owed money and had a clear path to fix the matter, you would be looking for consultation. I did not expect to handler the matter here. I did think that maybe somebody might have some helpful idea or perhaps be a retired American Lawyer. I used to have these kinds of connections 20 years ago, but I don't have them now. This is a situation in progress, and with or without a lawyer, I will go through the Embassy, the VA (which I never contacted), or any other group that think they can help with the matter. In the past I have tended to give up too easy, and that is why the matter went on so long. I normally would not publicly ask for any communication on a website like this. I have been and am still pretty much of a inner directed loner.

[gk10002000]

On 11/5/2016 at 10:47 AM, rnsills said:

OK, the situation was that I was on social security disability when I can here 20 years ago. My wife back in the states was the payee and refused to give me any money. I recently was able to get SS payments in my own name. I need a lawyer to deal with all the money I am owed since Social security will not listen to me. I have sent them detail information about the situation. Seeking an American lawyer in Thailand or anybody that knows anything that will help. If anybody can help leading to recovery of the money, you could be rewarded 20k or more for helping me fix the situation, or a percentage of what I can recover.

Well, you now say you are getting social security in your name.  How your wife was the legal payee seems difficult to understand but there are circumstances where that can be so as I wrote before.  So moving forward you are getting SS in your name.  As for the back monies that you say your wife never gave you, SS won't care about that.  If those payments were setup properly to your wife, but she didn't give you any money, then the issue is with you and your wife.  You would have to sue her. 

[sirineou]

You certainly need legal and otherwise  help.

You say "

On 11/4/2016 at 7:27 AM, rnsills said:

My ex, I think I am still married,

you don't know if you are married?  You at the very least need to resolve this part of your relationship first.

I am no lawyer and I might be wrong but many States are Community Property states , where she might have claim to half of your income while married.  If that is the case , then you only have claim to half.

On 11/4/2016 at 7:27 AM, rnsills said:

A lawyer could charge, pro bono, as much as $40,000 for this very simple situation.

if you are from a Community Property state this is not a simple situation. 

Pro Bono representation means Free and is usually offered as community service to those that can't afford legal representation, (call the Legal Aid society), but with a claim of $200,000 I am afraid you would not qualify for Pro Bono representation

In conclusion. IMO if you are from a community state you could only claim to half  so you would need to  consider if the litigation  costs would justify what you think you are owned.

I would suggest a telephone consultation with a lawyer in your state. Look at your states Bar association for recommendations.

Good Luck   

[HooHaa]

To put it quite simply, you should have done something 20 years ago.

 

I suspect seeking "help" here isnt doing you any favours either.

 

[ballbreaker]

If you can't get help from the the link below then you have only two options.

 

1.  Hire a lawyer if you feel you have a case.

2.  Forget it and move on with your life.

 

http://oig.ssa.gov/report-fraud-waste-or-abuse/fraud-waste-and-abuse

[Sheryl]

From what I understand of the situation, SS has nothing to do with it - at some past point in time his wife was legally set up to be the payee and they duly made payments to her. Now he is the payee and they make payments to him.

 

During the time the wife was the payee, she failed to give him the money. There is potentially action that can be taken against her, but it has nothing to do with SSA . As long as they make the correct payments to the designated payee, they are doing their part correctly.

 

If he wants to pursue this issue he would need to take legal action against the wife.

 

There will be legal fees. And to have any chance of success, need to have full documentation to substantiate that she kept these monies and did not give any to him, and that the expectation in making her oayee was that she would provide for him out of these funds. May be quite hard to establish all this in retrospect.

 

The obvious question is why did you not revoke her as payee as soon as the problem began rather than tolerate it for 20 years. There is something missing in this story.