BATON ROUGE - One man recently discovered that he's been declared dead by the Social Security Administration. Herman Banks is walking and talking and definitely not dead.

The 83-year-old recently went to withdraw money, only to find that his account was nearly drained. He quickly learned that he had not received his Social Security benefits for the past two months.

"I know it'll always hit the bank on the third of the month," he said.

Banks made an appointment at the Social Security office in Baton Rouge last Friday. There, he learned that his benefits had stopped because he had been declared deceased.

"When's the last time you saw a talking dead man?" he asked.

The people at the Baton Rouge Social Security office couldn't believe it either.

"I said something ain't right there, I'm still alive and kicking," Banks said.

The last benefit he received was on Oct. 3, 2025. Soon after that, something changed, and his benefits stopped. The Social Security office was unable to tell Banks when he "died," what happened, or when his benefits would be reinstated.

He has been having trouble since many of his bills are automatically drafted from the same checking account where his benefits are deposited.

"I didn't have any other idea what to do, but when I left church on Sunday, I knew who to call; I said I'm going to see if I can get in touch with Brittany to see if she can do something about this," he said.

Banks is waiting to hear from the SSA to see when he will be alive and receive benefits once again.