Social Security Death Index
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/q01hlp.htm
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/birthlst.htm
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/deathlst.htm

DESCRIPTION OF DATA 

The Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA)
contains over 50 million records created from SSA payment records. It contains
the records of those for whom the lump sum death benefit was paid. That lump
sum benefit could have been requested by a family member, an attorney, a
mortuary, etc. [NOTE: If someone is missing from the list, it may be that the
benefit was never requested, there was an error on the form requesting the
benefit or even an error in 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
      SS#   (State issued)    
         Birth date
         Death date
         Last residence/Lump sum payment 

 Sample entry

 Doe, John 123-45-6789 (WY) b. 16 Aug 1898 d. 12 Jul 1971
 lr. 54321 (City, County, State) lp. 95476 (City, County, State)

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.

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