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Man stunned to return home from vacation and receive letter from government saying he's dead
Featured Image Credit: CTV News

Man stunned to return home from vacation and receive letter from government saying he's dead

The unexpected letter stemmed from an unpaid speeding ticket

It's expected that after a long vacation you might have a pile of letters waiting for you when you get home.

From credit card bills to random flyers from your local takeout, one of the worst parts of coming back from holiday is the mail that's built up behind your front door.

And Nick Fatouros experienced this himself after returning home to Montreal, Canada, after an extended vacation.

Nick had received a letter from the Ministry of Justice (always a nerve-wracking moment) and opened his mail to discover he was apparently dead.

The 14-page letter was a result of an unpaid speeding fine dating back to 2022, with the government asking for the ticket to paid from Nick's estate.

He contested the fine at the time, with Nick then going on an extended trip to Costa Rica.

But little do the Ministry of Justice know, Nick is very much alive.

Speaking of his surprise to receive the letter, the 34-year-old told CTV News: "I was laughing. I said, 'Wow, that's news to me'."

Nick Fatouros was surprised to receive the letter.
CTV News

Nick added that he'd 'completely forgot' about the speeding ticket in question.

Going on to say he was relieved his mother didn't see it, he continued: "If she would open this and I was off on my travels, God forbid, you know, she would say, what's going on?"

As of last weekend Nick was struggling to get hold of a government official to inform them that he wasn't actually dead.

Apparently this kind of mistake is 'really, really rare'.

Lawyer William Korbatly explained to the news outlet: "Sometimes, it happens to have some mistakes like this, but it's really, really rare."

The letter shared details of Nick's unpaid speeding ticket.
CTV News

Further expressing how important it is for Nick to declare himself alive, he went on: "It won't only affect this traffic ticket, it would affect all of his, you know, succession and everything."

A ministry spokesperson has since explained that the mix-up was a case of 'human error'.

In a statement to UNILAD, Quebec Government said on the matter: "The Ministry of Justice is committed to providing exemplary service to its customers.

"As with any organization, the Department is not immune to human error.

"The Collector of Fines inadvertently used a template letter used to correspond with an estate rather than the one normally used to communicate with a defendant. We are sorry about the situation. The Department did not declare the defendant dead or notify any other agency of his death.

"Appropriate follow-up will be carried out with the citizen."

Topics: Canada, Travel