When a loved one dies the last thing on deceased family member’s minds is to inform the Social Security Administration so they do not continue to pay benefits, but it is an important thing to eventually do.
Social Security keeps a Death Master File (DMF) to keep track of beneficiaries who have passed away so that benefits stop, but this is no easy task considering how many beneficiaries pass away each year. To be honest, Social Security does not have all the resources necessary to keep track of all the beneficiaries who pass away. Below is a description of the DMF from Social Security.
What is the Death Master File?
The Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) is a data source that contains more than 94 million records. The “file” is created from internal SSA records of deceased persons possessing social security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the SSA .
Many problems are created when Social Security does not discover when a beneficiary passes away. The main problem is that benefits will continue to be paid and if someone takes those payments Social Security is going to try and retrieve the money. In a recent story it was reported that a spokesperson from the watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com found that six million Social Security numbers were active for people who were reported to be 112 years and older. The problem is there are only about 40 people in that age group still alive. It was also reported that Social Security paid out $8 billion improperly last year.
It should not be assumed that six million deceased people are receiving benefits because their Social Security numbers are active, but this is a problem for Social Security. To fully resolve it better funding and more resources would be needed.
