MySource:Rharrison/Social Security Death Index

Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2008. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

The Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) currently contains over 83 million records. The current update reflects the latest information provided by the SSA as of October 2008. The file is created from internal SSA records of deceased persons possessing social security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the SSA. Often this was done in connection with filing for death benefits by a family member, an attorney, a mortuary, etc. Each update of the DMF includes corrections to old data as well as additional names. [NOTE: If someone is missing from the list, it may be that the benefit was never requested, an error was made on the form requesting the benefit, or an error was made when entering the information into the SSDI.]

This file includes the following information on each decedent, if the data is available to the SSA:

   * Last name
   * First name
   * Social Security Number
   * State issued
   * Birth date
   * Death date
   * Last residence
   * Lump sum payment

The absence of a particular person in the SSDI is not proof this person is alive. Additionally, there is a possibility that incorrect records of death have been entered on the DMF. The Social Security Administration does not guarantee the accuracy of the file.