When researching more recent ancestors, the Social Security Death Index is a great place to start. It lists people who died and were reported to the Social Security Administration beginning in 1962 (a small number of deaths are listed before this date).
Internet sources based on the SSA DMF have shown high sensitivity to ascertain mortality status. However, a variety of demographic factors influence the accuracy of identifications.
What is the SSI Death Index?
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a record of people whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration. It is available on several genealogy websites and is an essential resource for finding family members who have passed away. The SSDI is a massive database with records for over 77 million people and can provide genealogists with vital information about their ancestors.
The SSDI is a free public database containing information from SSA records, state death certificates, and newspaper obituaries. It can be used to find the date and place of an ancestor’s death, age, spouse, children, parents, siblings, and other relatives. The index also provides a link to the SSA official death certificate if it is available.
The SSDI can help researchers find missing relatives and discover new details about their lives. It can also provide clues that lead to other valuable family history sources, such as military records, birth announcements, marriage certificates, and newspaper obituaries.
Ancestry has a searchable collection of SSDI records from 1935 to 2014. The searches are free, and the results contain helpful information such as the person’s name, spouse, parents, children, and other relatives. The probes can also reveal important medical information, such as the occurrence of hereditary diseases that may run in the family.
What are the limitations of the SSI Death Index?
Determination of death status is an essential component of many epidemiological and clinical research investigations. Online databases are frequently used for this purpose and are available for free via the Internet.
SSA receives death reports from family members and funeral homes, as well as from state agencies and other Federal departments and agencies. These reports, which include the name, date of birth, place of death, and Social Security number, are compiled in the SSI Death Index. Most index records are for deaths after 1962, when SSA began using a computer database, although some go back to 1937.
While SSA tries to verify all reported deaths, inaccuracies can occur. For example, a name may have been misspelled or an incorrect date of birth recorded. In addition, some individuals are listed in the SSI Death Index more than once due to misinformation or multiple deaths.
Researchers who depend on the SSI Death Index should know these limitations. For example, a recent study found that the sensitivity of the SSI Death Index for determining death varied widely across states. In some cases, the SSI Death Index showed discrete time points where the risk of death suddenly decreased. This suggests that SSA’s process for releasing data needs to be improved.
How can I access the SSI Death Index?
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a database of people with United States Social Security numbers who have died. This database only includes those who have been reported dead to the SSA. This may be because a survivor submitted a death claim or the SSA deemed that someone had passed away and stopped distributing benefits to them. The SSDI contains most of the deaths that have been reported to the SSA since 1962. However, some records date back as far as 1937.
The SSDI is a valuable resource for genealogists. It provides various information that can help researchers locate birth and death certificates. It can also provide helpful clues to other sources of information, such as the last place that a person was living or their occupation.
This information can be accessed through several genealogy websites, including Ancestry. To access this database, navigate the website and click the Search tab. In the Keywords field, type Social Security Death Index. This will display a list of databases containing Social Security Death Index data.
The SSDI is also available at many LDS Family History Centers as part of their free on-site collection of genealogy resources. Several genealogy software programs include the SSDI as part of their deluxe packages.
How can I use the SSI Death Index?
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a database of people with a valid Social Security number whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration. It is an invaluable resource for historians, genealogists, and other researchers, holding approximately 90 million records. The SSDI can provide information about an ancestor’s family members, place of birth, cause of death, age at death, and other essential facts. The database can also help genealogists find newspaper obituaries and other important family documents.
The SSDI is a part of the larger Numident database file, which was computerized in 1961 and is sold to financial, credit, and government agencies. The information in the SSDI is used for various purposes, including tracking tax withholdings and determining eligibility for survivor benefits.
There are several ways to access the SSDI. One popular option is to search online at Rootsweb. This website contains the SSDI from 1935 to 2014 and is free to use. Another way to access the SSDI is through Ancestry. This site contains the SSDI from 1935 to 2014 and a collection of obituaries and other vital documents for many families.
When searching for an ancestor in the SSDI, it is essential to remember that this is an index and not a complete record. Be sure to check for alternate spellings, nicknames, and middle names. You should also try searching with a date range that includes the year of death, if possible. The more precise your search, the more likely you will get a result.