GENMTD-L Archives

Archiver > GENMTD > 1997-07 > 0869869422


From: Richard Pence< >
Subject: Re: Social Security Death Index
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 15:23:42 -0700
References: <5ra9f9$vdj@bl-5.rootsweb.com>


Rick Charnes <> wrote:

>Looking at records at the SSDI at ancestry.com makes this youngster
>realize how ignorant he is of how social security works. I'm unclear
>about what the LP 'Lump Sum Payment' field refers to. What is this lump
>sum payment? After the individual dies who is covered by social
>security, does the SSA then make a lump sum payment to his heirs? How
>does this work? How is it determined who gets this? Or does the
>covered individual request this (final?) lump sum payment to himself at
>some point in his or her life?

Rick, I believe there is a FAQ on ancestry.com that will give you the
answers to many of the questions you ask - and probably in greater
detail and accuracy than the following. However ....

The "lump sum" payment is also called a "death benefit." It is
somewhere between $200 and $300 and was originally intended to cover
burial costs - which, of course, it has long ceased to do. Some time
in the 1980s, and I can't seem to pinpoint the date, the law was
changed to make this benefit payable only to a surviving spouse. For
example, when my fatehr died, it was paid to my mother, but when she
subseuntly died, I - as the only surviving heir - was NOT entitled to
receive the lump sum payment. Prior to then the lump sum was paid to
the estate of the deceased or the nearest surviving heirs. So, In the
1970s, when my brother died my mother, as his next of kin, did receive
a lump sum payment.

Ordinarily, what usually happens is that the undertaker, as a courtesy
to the family, will notity the the local SSA office of the death and
they will follow through and make any payment which may be due
survivors. The undertaker usually requests the SS number of the
deceased and names of next of kin. If the undertaker doesn't do this,
the next of kin may have to follow through with the SSA. And, I have
noticed, sometimes the SS itself scans the obits and proceeds on its
own initiative.

>Lastly, my record comes up with two different zip codes for LP and LR.
>What does this indicate?

I'm not sure what the headings LP and LR are in the ancestry.com
database - they are different in the CD version of the SSDI I have.
However, I think I answered this in an early message to you. However,
the first ZIP in the record is that from the address of the residence
of the deceased. The second, usually only given if it is different
from the first, is from the address where the final benefit check was
sent.

Keep in mind that the SSDI is not limited to those on whose behalf a
lump sum payment was made. It includes the names of any covered (i.e.,
anyone with a SS number) person whose death is noticed by or reported
to the SSA - by any means or anyone. (This may not have been true in
some of the earlier years for which the date was computerized.)



------------------------------

This thread: