Definitions for "Social Security Death Index"
The Social Security Death Index is an index of Social Security Death records. Generally this includes names of deceased Social Security recipients whose relatives applied for Social Security Death Benefits after their passing. Also included in the millions of records are approximately 400,000 railroad retirement records from the early 1900s to 1950s. Soundex Phonetic indexing system. Statute A law Testate Died leaving a valid will.
a massive index containing vital information of over 66 million names (primarily Americans) whose deaths were reported by their families to the U.S. Social Security Administration. Most of the names in this database are from 1962 to the present, although some is from as early as 1937.
index of Social Security Death Benefit records which document how much the government has paid to an individual (spouse, child, etc.) as a result of a relative's death. An individual will appear in the Social Security Death Benefits Index if he or she died between 1937 and 1993 and had applied for Social Security during their lifetime, and someone must have applied for their Social Security death benefits at the time of death.