More than 3 million deaths are reported to the Social Security Administration each year. Among them, a small portion — less than 10,000 — are erroneous and need to be corrected, according to the agency.
“Our records are highly accurate,” the SSA stated Monday in a blog post following up on an update released Sunday by the SSA on its death record. Of the millions of death reports received by Social Security each year, less than one-third of 1% are incorrect and need to be fixed, it stated.
Still, a person wrongly reported as deceased “can be devastating to the individual, spouse and dependent children,” as benefits are stopped and the process of restoring them can be long and challenging, according to SSA.
The agency’s statements come nearly a month after the new SSA head contradicted claims that tens of millions of dead people over the age of 100 were receiving checks.
Instead, those individuals “are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record,” said Lee Dudek, the new acting Social Security Administration commissioner who was placed in the role by President Trump, in a Feb. 19 statement. “These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits,” he said.
The clarification came after Mr. Trump’s adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, claimed on social media and in press briefings that people as old as 300 years were improperly and routinely getting benefits.
That said, the opposite does occur: In rare cases, people are mistakenly reported to the agency as dead.
A recent story in the Seattle Times relayed one instance involving an 82-year-old man who’d been inaccurately declared dead and had his Social Security and Medicare canceled, resulting in a nearly three-week effort to resurrect himself.
Deaths are reported to Social Security primarily by states, but also by funeral homes, family members, financial institutions and federal agencies. If one suspects they have been incorrectly listed as deceased on their Social Security record, SSA advises that they contact their nearest Social Security office as soon as possible and bring at least one current form of ID.
How to inform Social Security of a death
Funeral homes generally inform SSA of someone’s death, so family members don’t typically need to do so.
If for some reason a funeral home is not involved, the SSA should be called and given the name, Social Security number, date of birth and date of death for the person who died.
Call +1 800-772-1213 or call TTY +1 800-325-0778 if you’re deaf or hard of hearing.
The agency should be available for assistance in most U.S. time zones Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., in English, Spanish and other languages.
Those living outside the U.S. can report the death of a U.S. citizen to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, or contact a Federal Benefits Unit.
Lump-sum death payment
A spouse may get a one-time death benefit of $255. If there is not a spouse, some children could be eligible, including those who are:
- Age 17 or younger, or
- Ages 18–19 and in school (K–12) full time, or
- Any age if they developed a disability at age 21 or younger.
A spouse who doesn’t live in the same home as the deceased may still be eligible for the lump sum payment, if they qualify for benefits based on the record of the person who died, according to the SSA’s website.
You must apply for the lump sum payment within 2 years of the family member’s death. Certain family members may be eligible for monthly survivor benefit payments and possibly Medicare.
