Many Americans are anxious to receive their stimulus check, to help with the burden that is the COVID-19 pandemic. With the world in quarantine, the economy has clearly suffered, and the amount of jobs that have been lost is at an all-time high. 

Two weeks ago,  was reportedly sent out, but then delayed because of  that his name must be on the checks. So, Americans waited once more. Then, we received word that more checks had been sent out– but not directly to the people, rather, — whether that be a company or an individual.

Now, there seems to be even more confusion surrounding the stimulus checks. The most recent update arriving this afternoon is that the IRS has sent out checks to dead people. The federal government admitted as such.

Because of the overwhelming amount of people that the IRS is cutting checks for– 150 million– they’ve apparently rushed the process to get them out sooner, but in the process, have failed to do certain checks to see if said person is still living or dead. Many news deaths have resulted because of COVID-19, thus the IRS may not be totally up to date on these more recent deaths, and they are not necessarily doing their usual checks because they are on such a tight deadline. Spouses and family members have been the ones who have discovered the $1,200 payment for their deceased relative.

Trump has said recently that if checks get into the wrong hands, he will be asking for that money back. However other experts say that the dead are entitled to their checks, too. A former deputy IRS commissioner, John Dalrymple, told Politico on the matter: “If you were alive on the day the legislation passed, I would guess, whether you died afterwards or not, you’re entitled to the benefit.”

So far, the IRS has not confirmed if they will be requesting the money to be returned.