A Montreal man received a letter from the Quebec government announcing his death

After returning home from a long vacation in Costa Rica, a Montreal man received the shock of a lifetime in the mail — and the Quebec government has presumed him dead.

In a 14-page letter from the Justice Department, the government said it hopes to collect money from Nick Faturos' estate for a speeding ticket. The problem is that Faturos is very much alive.

“I laughed. “I said, 'Wow, that's news to me,'” he said in an interview at his home on Thursday.

Letter stating that Nick Faturos is legally dead. (Sent)

The 34-year-old says he has been fighting a speeding ticket since 2022, after which he went on an extended vacation to Central America.

“I completely forgot, I came back and got this letter,” he says.

Fatouros said he was surprised and thankful his mother never saw him.

“If he discovers this, and I go on a journey, God forbid, what is going on?” would say.

Faturus says he tried to call the government to prove he was alive, but couldn't get through to anyone. “It's very difficult to pass, very difficult to pass,” he said.

“Sometimes mistakes like this happen, but it's very rare,” said attorney William Corbatley.

Corbatli says Faturos should announce that he is alive soon.

“It affects not only this travel ticket, but all of his inheritance and everything,” he said.

Fatouros says that he wants to prove that he is not a dead man.

“My next step is to figure this out and tell them, look, maybe it was a mistake, a mistake? Who knows?” he said.

The Justice Department did not respond to CTV News' request for an interview by the time of publication Thursday. Just after 6 p.m., a ministry spokesman said in an email that the mix-up was a case of “human error”.

“The debt collector incorrectly used a letter template that is normally used for real estate correspondence and not for communicating with the defendant. We apologize for the situation,” the email said.

“Appropriate control is carried out with citizens.”