Getting someones social security number?

my father died over 30 years ago , and now its time for my mother to retire but she cant find his s.s. # and thesocial security administration told her she needs it to file for his benifits any ideals

Social Security Death Records. Try the link I provided. There is no charge. Use the advanced search option if he had a common name. With the advance search, you can include date of birth and date of death which will return you the exact record you're looking for and will include his social secuirty number.

For example, Richard M. Nixon's Social Security Number was:

567-68-0515

Call your congressman.

Seriously, part of their job is called casework and it is to help individual citizens get through gov't buaracrazy. That's the only thing I could think of if the SS agency is being uncooperative.

Look at their original mortgage they filed at the court house. Sometimes they put the SSN on them back then. Or if they kept some of their cancelled checks from way back, sometimes people put their SSN on them. If he served in the military they could have it. Good Luck!

The length of time issue bothers me in providing some suggestions. It may be that you'll need to start sending letters to the Social Security Administration in order to get things moved along. If they aren't responsive, send a written letter to your Congressman/person explaining your problem. Usually, this will cause your representative (someone from their office) to contact the social security administration in order to get someone focused on your problem.

If it were a recent death, then I would also suggest the following:

1. Consult an old 1040 form that he filed with the IRS or submit a request for a copy of a previous return. 30 years is a long time ago though.

2. If your dad was in a hospital when he died (and it was not too long ago), you can also check the hospital's UB-92 form that should also have his SSN on it.

As I said, the 30 year period could be a problem for the 1040 and hospital bill ideas. I would start with writing the social security administration (I would use certified mail with a return receipt so that you have documentation regarding when they received the letter) and then, if need be, get in touch with your congressman. You might also just go ahead and contact your congressman's office first and get their advice. Good luck.

My father has been dead for 32 years and had an uncommon name, so I decided to try a couple of these suggestions.

Jimmy J's suggestion didn't work in either simple or advanced search. I filled in every field for both except Social Security Number. It told me it had two results but wouldn't show either one of them.

Citizenvnfla's suggestion would work for me, if I were to take the file number I found on our County Recorder's web site and request a copy of it at their office.

I like chicagoshooter's suggestion also, but would use it only as a last resort.

The first answer with using the SSDI online is an excellent idea. You might need to muck with it a bit but most of the time you can find someone. There is also a link to apply directly for the info.

Have you or a family member actually looked through your Mom's papers? It is almost unfathomable that she would not have some scrap of paper or some document without this number on it.

You have gotten some good suggestions. I would as well post this question in the genealogy section.