Last week, Theresa Fraser, 77, of Garden of Eden, N.S., received a letter from Revenue Canada, addressed to her estate, claiming she was dead.

“I'm still alive and kickin',” said Fraser, laughing. “It's kind of funny.”

She joked that at least she didn't have to do her taxes, since she was legally a dead person.

She called her member of Parliament's office, and was instructed to write a letter to Revenue Canada. She did just that, but she also sent a copy to the evening news.

Fraser said as far as she knows, it's all been worked out now. Though, she thought the same thing in November, when she and her bank teller phoned Ottawa to ask why her old-age pension cheque hadn't arrived on time.

A federal representative told Fraser's teller that Theresa Fraser was deceased.

“She said, 'No, she's right here,'” said Fraser, who then got on the phone and gave the woman her social insurance number and date of birth.

When the cheque arrived a week later, she considered the matter settled - until last week.

“I thought your social insurance number protected you from this, but I guess it doesn't. They just run down the line and cross you off.”

She said another Theresa Fraser from Trenton, N.S., passed away about a month before her pension-cheque debacle.

“It could happen to anyone with the same name.”