Summer 2005 • Issue 18, page 19

How do I distribute funds when one of the parties provides a social security number that is not his?

By Davidson, Peter*

Q: I am getting ready to close my receivership and distribute the funds in the estate to the two parties. I have just learned that the Social Security number one of the parties gave me is not his. What should I do?

A: As a receiver you are the agent of the court. As such, you must not be a party to any conduct that may not be legal. You should bring this issue to the court’s attention by filing a request for instructions as to what you should do with the funds under your custody and whether you should notify the IRS and FTB about what is clearly a violation of the law by one of the parties to the case. Like with all the requests for instructions, you should give the court a recommendation as to how you think you should be instructed. The use of a false Social Security number is a crime. See 42 U.S.C. §408(a)(7)(B). 

*PETER A. DAVIDSON, an attorney with Rein Evans & Sestanovich LLP located in Los Angeles, is a receiver and an attorney who specializes in representing receivers in state and federal court.