If you have a relative that has passed recently, the best way to track down their personal information is to go to the Social Security Death Index.  This database keeps death records on all people who have died in the country since the 1950s.

Finding Death Records with the SSDI

It may not seem like much, but remember that until the Social Security Administration was started by Roosevelt, no one kept these records at all, much less centralized them.

Of course, it isn’t easy or cheap to dig through the SSDI.  It takes time, and isn’t always accurate.  Until 1988 it wasn’t mandatory to have a social security number so many people who didn’t work, had other retirement plans or worked for themselves didn’t get one.

Unreported Social Security Number

Sometimes a death isn’t reported to the Social Security Administration, so they never enter the data into their database.  When the SSDI doesn’t work out it doesn’t mean you have no more options.

Online search services have gone to the trouble of accessing records from all over the country.  If you have some data about your loved one, such as a name, place and date of death, you are likely to be successful.

Increase Your Chances of Finding a Death Record with Online Services

Unlike the SSDI, these searches are based on correlating available data from all sorts of sources.  This means you have a better chance of getting a hit during your search.

Of course, a search service will be able to cross-reference your search once a match has been made.  The service can automatically pull up a birth certificate, marriage license, divorce decrees, addresses and known relatives with no more effort on your part.

All this information is available night at day from the comfort of your own home.  Each service has its own payment structure but typically you can either pay for one search or for limitless access over a year.

Either way, the prices aren’t high, and well worth your investment if you are serious about a genealogical search.  Go online and take a look, you are sure to like what you see.

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Many people are aware of the value of a death certificate for settling life insurance and probate claims, but most aren’t aware that death certificates can be a critical link when building a genealogy chart.

How a Death Certificate is a Passport to a Birth Certificate

Often with older relatives, we are aware of when they passed, but not when they were born.  By acquiring the death certificate you can find that all important birth date, and that opens a world of information to you.

Finding out when someone was born means that you can then search for their birth certificate.  With that document you get names one more generation into the past.

Finding a Maiden Name

Usually you will find not only the couple’s names but also the much more elusive maiden name.  Maiden names are critical for finding maternal lines of families, after all, a family has two sides.

Social Security Death Index

The Social Security Death Index is the primary source of such documents in the United States.  This huge database is constantly being updated and has over 80 million records that date back to 1962 accurately.

Previous deaths are only listed here if they were reported after 1962 and entered into the appropriate database.  While this is unfortunate for those who wish to search older documents, it is still a good place to start for more recent documents.

Government Offices Switch to Online

Many local and state governments are transitioning their documents from files to the Internet as well.  Birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees and any legal document you can imagine are quickly being transferred to the Internet.  Each day new documents are available.  By joining a document search service you avail yourself of this new resource.

Take a little time to check out the benefits afforded by a document search service.  You have instant access to databases around the country, the database will make connections that you may not be aware of, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home, at any hour.

For a reasonable annual fee you can usually search a limitless number of documents, find death certificates, and make your genealogical search more efficient and fun.

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