The Social Security Death Index (SSDI), which is a valuable tool for genealogists, is a database of death records, with most of the individuals listed there have died after 1962. The Social Security Death Index is a useful means of researching for death information of a family member who has died recently.

The Social Security Death Index is created from the Death Master File of the U.S. Social Security Administration. The difference between the SSDI and the Death Master File is that the former can be accessed online from genealogy sites free of charge.

The information available in the database includes:

* The birth date of the deceased individual
* Date of death
* Social Security Number
* State where the number was issued
* Last recorded place of residence

Proof of birth is required for a person to get a Social Security Number, which proved invaluable to genealogists, because it supplied the database with lots of relevant data, which can be of use later on.

Some of the first recipients for social security do not have birth certificates, because they were born many years before Social Security required proof of birth from those who want to register. Therefore, many of them have applied for delayed birth certificates in order to qualify for social security benefits. There are other ways used by people to authenticate their age to the Social Security Administration - church records, testimonies, and federal census enumerations lists.

A general search of the Social Security Death Index will produce the following information:

1. Name of the deceased person

In order to make sure that you will find the name that you are searching for, do a variety of searching methods. You can use soundex searches, for instance. This is to make sure that the name you're looking for was not spelled incorrectly when it was entered at the database.

2. Date of birth

This information is confirmed by the Social Security Administration. There is a possibility though that the date here may not be the one indicated in your records.

3. Date of Death

The month is the only thing that interests the Social Security Administration, so its usually the month and the year of death that are displayed on the database.

4. Place where the number was issued to the person

This is the state or territory where the person applied and registered for Social Security. To make sure that the search will include the name of the person that you're looking for, do not put anything on the state field.

5. Residence

It can be the address where the social security checks are sent, or the place where the Social Security Administration and the person had its last correspondence.

6. Address where the benefit checks were last sent

This field could be empty if the person has not received benefits at all.

There are instances that the name of the deceased will not turn out on the database. Usually, these cases happen because the survivors of the deceased did not apply for Social Security death benefits even though the person was eligible for it.

The Social Security Death Index is a useful research tool that has often been overlooked. Those who do use the Social Security Death Index, however, find loads of useful information that would be difficult to get elsewhere.