The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) includes most deceased
individuals who died having owned a Social Security number. The SSDI
lists the deceased's name, their Social Security number (SSN), date of
birth, date of death, state where the SSN was issued, ZIP code of the
last residence, and ZIP code of where the death benefit was sent.
The Social Security Administration has records in the
death index
from about 1962 when the reporting process became automated. The SSDI is
a useful tool for genealogists in that it often provides the deceased's
exact birth and death dates and the geographic region in which the
individual died. If you find a Social Security death record entry for individual for whom you want to know
even more information (i.e.: parent's names) in the SSDI, you may write
to the Social Security Administration to obtain information from the
deceased's Social Security application file.
If you know that a deceased individual had a Social Security
number, but you cannot find reference to them in the SSDI, there are
several reasons to explain this situation:
It may be that the deceased's death was not reported to the
SSA or, the information regarding the deceased's death was reported
incorrectly.
It may be the case, too, that the individual's last name was
misspelled or a middle given name was used as the primary given name. In
searching the SSDI, you may want to try a soundex search (searches for a
similar sounding name) or try using the deceased's middle name(s).
Some railroad employees' pensions handled their social
security payments and these pensioners may not appear in the SSDI.
You can find the 
Social
Security death records index (SSDI) in various places on the Internet.
Wherever you search, make sure that you use all features of their 'enhanced'
or 'advanced' search forms in order to find your ancestor!
In the SSDI, you may find various codes associated
with a death entry. There is an
article regarding the nature of these codes posted on the
government's Social Security web site.
Additional Articles
Brian Bonner Mavrogeorge
There is an article written by Brian Mavrogeorge, that
describes in detail some of the aspects of the Social Security Death
Index. That article was previously published by RootsWeb Genealogical
Data Cooperative, RootsWeb
Review, in Vol. 1, No. 23, 18 November 1998. You may visit
RootsWeb's main Web page at http://www.rootsweb.com.
Follow-up Article
Regarding the SSDI article in Vol. 1, No. 23, there is another
reason why a person might not be in the SSDI.
Both my parents had worked for firms where they paid into
FICA. However, their last and longest jobs were with the railroad from
which they retired. They started to receive two monthly retirement
checks, but after some time their Social Security benefits were
transferred to the Railroad Retirement Board in Chicago. They then
received a single check until their passing. And their names do not
appear on the SSDI. I do not know how common this is nor if the Railroad
Retirement Board has a list similar to the SSDI. John Burfiend.
[Editors' Note: If a person worked for a railroad after 1936 he might
have qualified for a pension from the Railroad Retirement Board in lieu
of Social Security. That's why researchers don't find those ancestors in
the SSDI. Most of the RR employees' Social Security numbers begin with
the digits 700 through 729. Researchers can write to: Railroad
Retirement Board, 844 Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611.]
PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from ROOTSWEB REVIEW is granted
unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED The reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes.
This notice must appear at the end of the article:
Written by Editors: Julia M. Case & Myra Vanderpool Gormley, RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com.
Previously published by RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, RootsWeb
Review, Vol. 1, No. 24, 25 November 1998. You may visit RootsWeb's main
Web page at http://www.rootsweb.com.
