How do you find out what a dead relative&#39;s social security number was?
<p>I feel somewhat self-conscious about asking this question, since scam-artists are often interested obtaining social security numbers.</p>
<p>However, my mother died.</p>
<p>I am unable to get a death certificate from the state of Arizona without providing my mother's social security number.</p>
<p>If anybody disbelieved me about my mother's death, I could easily put them in touch with the police detective who investigated my mother's death.</p>
<p>Any skeptics could also contact the Pima County Medical Examiner's office.</p>
<p>I paid the state of Arizona about $55 for a death certificate roughly one month ago. No social security number was asked for. However, I recently learned that the state of Arizona will not anyone a certified death certificate untill a non-governmental entity creates a death certificate.</p>
<p>The private citizen must file the death certificate with the recorder's office.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Within seven calendar days after receiving possession of human remains, a responsible person who takes possession of the human remains shall:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Obtain and complete the information, including the <em><strong>social security number</strong></em> of the decedent, on the death certificate required pursuant to this chapter and rules adopted pursuant to this chapter.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Provide on the death certificate the name and address of the person completing the death certificate.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Submit the death certificate for registration to a local registrar, a deputy local registrar or the state registrar.  The responsible person may submit the death certificate by electronic means in the format prescribed by the state registrar.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>The problem is, I don't know my mother's <em><strong>social security number</strong></em></p>
<p>I know my mother's legal name.<br />
I know my maternal grandparent's legal names.<br />
I know the name of the city my mother was born in.</p>
<p>I know everything about my mother, except her social security number.</p>
<p>How on earth do you convince the United States government to divulge a dead relative's social security number?</p>
<p>I want to make a death certificate and file it with the recorder's office.</p>
<p>Normally, a funeral director would do this, but I cannot afford one, and I am burying her myself.</p>

<p>You can fill out <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Form SS-5</a>  Application for Social Security card.  The instructions attached to the form indicate the needed documents. They will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>the person's (in this case your mother's) birth certificate or other evidence of her age;</li>
<li>Evidence of the person's US citizenship or immigration status;</li>
<li>Evidence of identity of the person, most often a current driver's license or state ID card;</li>
<li>Evidence of your right to apply on her behalf;</li>
<li>Evidence of <strong>your</strong> identity;</li>
</ul>
<p>The form give a website and telephone number for questions. Documents must be originals or certified copies.</p>
<p>Or you can complete <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-711.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Form SSA-711</a> Request for Deceased Person's Social Security Record. This involves a fee. It can also be completed <a href="https://secure.ssa.gov/apps9/eFOIA-FEWeb/internet/main.jsp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">online</a>  The contact number provided with the SS-5 form may be able to help with this also.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://faq.ssa.gov/en-US/Topic/article/KA-02585" rel="nofollow noreferrer">FAQ Page</a> for SSA-711 is not entirely clear on whether the transcript will include the SSN.</p>
<p>Bank account records might also hold an SSN, and any bank where she had an account should know it.</p>

death inheritance social-security