Couple to be paid for 'death' error

MALMO, Sweden, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The Swedish tax agency has been ordered to pay damages to a 79-year-old woman who was mistakenly classified as dead.

In addition to a $3,400 payment to Ingrid Stahl of Malmo, the agency must also pay $2,050 in damages to her husband, The Local reported.

"It has been a terrible time. It is still tough, but we try to just let it go," Ingrid Stahl told the Swedish news agency TT.

The couple learned in April last year that Ingrid Stahl had been legally dead for a month when a supermarket chain and the state gambling agency tried to get her charge cards back. The error was the result of confusion between her identification number and someone else's.

Getting the mistake corrected took months, the couple said. While she was still considered dead, letters came addressed to Ingrid Stahl's estate.