Explanation of the Social Security Death Index
How to Order your relatives SSN Application SS-5

The "Social Security Death Index" to which you refer is not a record of the Social Security Administration. We believe that a recipient of the Death Master File created this "index".

The Social Security Death Index is available online from a variety of commercial services (usually the search is free). The Death Index contains a listing of everyone who had a Social Security number and who is deceased, and whose death was reported to the Social Security Administration. If you find a person in the Death Index you will learn the date of birth and Social Security Number for that person. Other records potentially available from SSA include the Application for a Social Security Number (form SS-5) and information from the "claims folder" for past recipients of benefits. In any case, to obtain any of this information from SSA you will need to file a Freedom of Information Act request. The detailed procedures for doing so are:

To search our records for the information you want, we need certain identifying information. Our records are filed by Social Security numbers (SSNs) rather than by names. If you can provide the person's SSN, we will search our records for any information we might have. Without an SSN, we will need the person's full name, date and place of birth, and parents' full names to locate the record. If you can provide the necessary identifying information, we will search for the number.

You may send your request to:
Social Security Administration
Office of Disclosure Policy
3-A-6 Operations Building
6401 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland, 21235

A deceased person does not have any privacy rights. Therefore, if he or she applied for an SSN, we can generally provide a copy of the Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5). This document contains the person's name, date and place of birth, and parents' names that were given when he or she applied for the number.

You will be charged the cost of searching our records even if we are unable to locate any information on the person you are asking about. The fee for searching our records is $7 ($27 after July 1, 2001) when the SSN is known and $16.50 ($29 after July 1, 2001) when the number is unknown or is incorrect. The check or money order should be made payable to the Social Security Administration. We will also accept VISA, MasterCard, or Discover. Please include the appropriate credit card number, along with the expiration date of the credit card with your written request.

If you are requesting copies of applications for a Social Security Number (Form SS-5) for people who are deceased, address your request to:

Social Security Administration
OEO FOIA Workgroup
300 N. Green Street
P.O. Box 33022
Baltimore, Maryland 21290-3022


The Social Security Administration did not begin keeping records until 1936; therefore, we have no records about people who died before then.
(Note: We cannot release information on living persons without their written consent.)