Is it possible to look up Social Security numbers of the deceased?

Question:

Is it possible to look up Social Security numbers of the deceased?

A friend of mine told me that social security numbers of the deceased are public domain, and he wants to look someone's up but he doesn't know how. Is there a public website where you can look this up for free?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You bet you can. RootsWeb has a searchable Social Security Death Index. Just input the deceased person's name -- the more of it you know (first, middle, last + exact spelling) the better your search results will be. And yes, its free. Source(s):
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ if they are decrease, search Social Security death benefit records on line. If any benefits were paid to surviving members you can find it there. It will help to know where they resided at time of death, where they dies and what their esactname and age was at the time of death. Happy hunting. Yes on www.ancestry.com or http://www.familysearch.org/
hope this helps. Hi,

You're right -- social security numbers of deceased persons enter the public domain. I've included a link below that may be of some help.

Also, despite what many think, social security numbers are not recycled after death. According to the SSN's official site, "the current system will provide us with enough new numbers for several generations into the future."

Mike Yes; the SSDI, or Social Security Death Index. You can google it, or start with:
http://stevemorse.org/ssdi/ssdi.html... You can find the social security numbers of ancestors on Ancestry.com. go to ancestry. com and look in the soc sec death index http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cg...
This website will open up an advanced search of the deceased to find their social security number.