Widow responsible for overpayment of pension funds, says city attorney

The widow of a former Live Oak firefighter is responsible for returning more than $13,000 in pension payments, according to Live Oak City Attorney Erny Sellers.

[Another Widow]

There is no reason why Sue Cudiff should not pay back the funds owed since she continued to receive the money and did not notify anyone of the error. The State of Florida Retirement fund overpaid my husband while he was alive and after his death they notified me that I had to pay back an overpayment of $8,000. I did not receive that money but I was told I was responsible to pay it back even though it was the states error! Sometime things are not fair but we must live with it.

[North Florida Mom]

I do not think the widows should be responaible for repayment. Whom ever did not do their job right should be fired and if that means 12 of them since the overpayment was made so be it. People need to be responsible for their own mistakes. Why pass the buck!

[Goldenrod]

Indeed she does need to do the responsible thing and pay back the money. She made the first mistake by signing a deceased person's name to a check and using the money - instead of returning the check, notifying them of the death, and awaiting reduced checks made out in her name. She did this 36 times. Paying the money back is better than being charged with 36 counts of fraud. If it had been a SS check, Federal prison could be in her future. She could also be facing IRS troubles, depending on how, or if, she reported the pension income and it's taxable classification. Ignorance is no excuse - papers designating beneficiary terms had to be signed when the pension was first set up.