Social Security paid nothing until 1940. The first survivor benefit equaled 3x the "primary insurance amount" not to exceed $255 (or $85 monthly). Eventually this was converted to what is called the "lumpsum death" benefit that is now payable to only the surviving spouse. By now the chatter must convince everyone that it was not necessary to have received benefits in order to be listed in the SSDI. Because the master beneficiary record, as an electronic record, began in 1968, deaths that occured prior to this date are rarely displayed on the SSDI. If there is a pre-1968 record it means that a survivor applied for benefits under that SSN after 1967. Any listing from 1968 on means either (1) the person or a survivor drew benefits or (2) for a non-beneficiary the death was reported to SSA. For years this meant usually a funeral director report or someone who presented a death certificate. A post-1967non-appearance (as suggested by the rootsweb site) likely means a delay in the report (that is, the death certificate has not been finalized), an incorrect name/SSN relative to the numident record (which contains the application for an SSN and duplicate cards issued after the orginal) or possibly the person did not have an SSN. There was no requirement until the 1980s for a survivor or spouse to even have an SSN. Until the 1990s there was no requirement that a dependent on a tax return have an SSN/TIN. [Anyone notice that deceased minors seemingly never appear]. Today just about everyone has an SSN. And today I'm sure with the multiple electronic sources of death, it's rare that a deceased person does not appear on the SSDI at least eventually. I don't recall mentioning that I worked for Social Security. So while I may not know everything relative to this question, I can speculate knowledgeably on just about every reason why someone is NOT on the SSDI. P.S. Death certificates establish death. Marriage and birth certificates establish relationships. A death certificate would never establish that someone was a daughter. [email protected] wrote: I joined the list over 3 years ago in my quest to obtain information on my uncle's marriage in San Francisco. He died in 1939 in Oregon which I believe is where he went shortly after his wife died. They had a daughter that I've been trying to locate but I've need his wifeâs maiden name, so I could. Sadly his daughter could never receive any SSI since uncle Vic was never listed on the death records for Social Security, in fact she doesnât even know he died. My grandfather was next of kin and wasn't the nicest person, that's why all of his children left TN. In fact when my grandmother died he never had a cemetery marker placed on her grave [donât think he paid for her funeral]. I was very young and remember when gramps died and my dad & uncles where all over the cemetery trying to locate her grave. Gramps received a letter from the funeral home in Oregon [I have the papers from the funeral home] that's how the family knew my uncle died in Oregon. But gramps didnât want to be responsible for the funeral bills so he never replied. It doesnât surprise me since he didnât pay for the funerals of 2 of his other wives or another son who died. Since he was next of kin he was the one to notify Social Security and apply for any benefits and etc. Since Social Security was never informed of Uncle Vicâs death, there is no record. The funeral home back then could not notify the Social Security administration and the state of Oregon didnât either. Patti ************************** Visit SFGenealogy.com! http://www.sfgenealogy.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message