<prompt> Human: Hello friends,Today my co-worker was telling me about how his mother-in-law is being denied her retirement SSA benefits. The reasoning behind the denial is the birth date she has been using is not the one on her legal birth certificate from Mexico. The reason she has used the wrong date is because when she was born at home in Mexico and her parents didnt take her to a hospital to receive a legal birth certificate until a month later. All these years axp. 35 years she has always used the day she was actually born at home and not her legal birth date.The SSA is saying there is nothing they can do about it and have denied her benefits. Has anyone here seen this issue resolved in the past through the legal system or has she shot herself in the foot for all these years?I just felt morally convicted to post this question and try to find some information out. I understand the SSAs position however denying a taxpayer their due over this mistake seems so wrong to me... The incorrect birth date didnt stop them from receiving the money from her paychecks every month for the last 35 years.Assistant: So shell start her benefits in a month, right? Thats probably too soon to get her birthdate legally corrected. I think waiting a month is the best way to handle this.I think your anger is misplaced. Theyve got 61 million beneficiaries to deal with. They go with the public record because its clear and proven. She had a lifetime to correct her legal birthdate. She didnt correct it and now she has to wait a month. Its not so terrible in the scheme of things.You cant really expect Social Security to cut her an early check because of the unverified claim that she was born a month early. Everybody could claim that, with no evidence, and start getting benefits early. Taking the time to prove her birthdate claim would probably take longer than waiting a month for her checks to start coming.Human: Its not about an early check, they are denying benefits entirely. I am not angry at the SSA. I just felt I might be able to help this elderly woman find some information on resolving her issue.  <response>: They are denying it entirely? That sounds like an identity theftfraud protection because she submitted information inconsistent with their records.Has she tried reapplying with her legally recorded birthdate?Participants and beneficiaries can call SSMed and they walk you through this stuff. Any organization that caters to tens of millions of senior citizens has to make itself easy to navigate. She should call up and see what they can do. 