Reaper Man*

[MoonCat]

*Cookies for reference!

I suppose this qualifies as sucky, since this guy was trying to get away with something.

Caller: I want to place a death notice for my mom.
Me: Did she die in this area or outside of our area?
Caller: She died in [big local hospital]
Me: OK, then, we can only accept the notice from the funeral home.
Caller: [confused noises]
Me: The only exception we make is when the remains are donated to [local med school] for research. We will verify the death with them.
Caller: Well, she offered (note: I presume before dying!) but they, uh...turned her down.
Me: ?? I've never heard of that happening, but....in that case you will need to have the funeral home call us.
Caller: Well, she's just being cremated.
Me: That's fine, the county cremation society or whoever handles it can call us.
Caller: Well, uh...How do I do that [medical school] thing?
Me: Sir, you just told me they turned her down.
Caller:....Oh.

Later on I found out that one of co-workers had talked to this guy earlier and he claimed his mom died at home. Definitely something fishy going on here, but he's not getting a death notice in with us!

[Pairou]

Ooh! Ooh! Terry Pratchett?

[Tsiyeria]

Reeeeeeepo Maaaaaan! (That is probably not at all what you meant, but that's what it made me think of. )

...Why would he want you to file a false death notice? I can't even think of any good reason to do that.

[MoonCat]

Ooh! Ooh! Terry Pratchett?

Cookies to you! I have animal crackers and some chocolate-filled chocolate sandwich cookies.

And Tsiyeria, sometimes people try to place fake notices as a prank...yes, some people actually think it's funny to place a notice for someone that hasn't died...or because they're pissed at someone. Years ago, I had a woman trying to place a notice saying her ex-husband had died. She tried several times.

[Scorpodael]

Well, what can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man? <_<

I can think of a few reasons to want to falsify a death notice... none of them good, and most of them nonsensical.

[Pairou]

Animal crackers!!

So... isn't that whole thing illegal? Fake death noticed and such?

[sirwired]

I can't figure what common-law tort it would be inherently violating. Unfortunately, simple lying is not a civil or criminal offense. That said, if the lie causes damages (financial, emotional, etc.), then you could sue for that instead. And I imagine that punitive damages would be involved also.

[Seshat]

Reeeeeeepo Maaaaaan! (That is probably not at all what you meant, but that's what it made me think of. )

...Why would he want you to file a false death notice? I can't even think of any good reason to do that.

Entitled Dude: "My father died! Look, here's the death notice. I want all his money!"

[PepperElf]

Later on I found out that one of co-workers had talked to this guy earlier and he claimed his mom died at home. Definitely something fishy going on here, but he's not getting a death notice in with us!

At that point I'd be tempted to phone the police ... just to make her her "at home" death wasn't premeditated by the son.

[Caractacus_Potts]

I can think of a few reasons to want to falsify a death notice... none of them good, and most of them nonsensical.

Entitled Dude: "My father died! Look, here's the death notice. I want all his money!"

At that point I'd be tempted to phone the police ... just to make her her "at home" death wasn't premeditated by the son.

A short time ago my wife was contacted by her old high school friend that she had lost touch with. Her friend’s brother had called and told her their father and stepmother had died in a horrible car crash in NJ. Her friend felt the need to reach out to relatives and estranged friends since life is short. My wife was very happy as they were very close in HS.

A few weeks to a month later we find out the friends brother has been arrested for murder. He made up the car crash story and had actually shot his father and stepmother, burned their bodies and thrown their bones into a pond after he had changed his dad’s will leaving everything to him.

[wagegoth]

I believe that in India there's been a huge problem with families notifying the government that family members have died so that they can steal their property. Because government grinds so slowly in India, people have died before they were able to legally prove they were still alive and recover their possessions.

[Misanthropical]

I know it was all kinds of creepy when a certain princess with the same name as mine died and every time I turned around there was blaring headlines saying I died. Well, not me but you get the idea.

I can not fathom why anyone would think it's funny or clever to try to post a fake death notice like no one would check to make sure the person really did die.

[Teskeria]

This post reminds me of this. Talk about rushing someone into the grave: http://notalwaysright.com/got-love-in-the-bank/13310

[XCashier]

This post reminds me of this. Talk about rushing someone into the grave: http://notalwaysright.com/got-love-in-the-bank/13310

If this is a true story, I'm glad the man divorced that selfish harridan (several weeks? Can a divorce happen that quickly, even under these circumstances?). I hope she's behind bars, as well.

[Blue Ginger]

Newspapers in my state in oz didn't always need notification of death from a hospitable or official channels. That changed after a minor player in one of the old-school crime families took out a half page obit for a rival. Guy was executed as the paper hit the stands.

Now papers can take and do the obit but it will not appear in the paper until they get a copy of the notification of death paperwork. They also don't charge until this doc is with them.