Looking up cousin on SS death index

Question

On the social security death index what does it mean by "last benefits"? I was looking up my cousin and there is a section after "Last Residence: Vienna, IL" that says "Last benefits: Montgomery, AL".

Answer 1

Yes, last benefits is where the last check was sent to and it can refer to either the last check sent to your cousin or to your cousin's survivor(s) - perhaps minor children at the time of your cousin's death or perhaps the widow or widower.  Since your cousin's last residence was IL and the last benefits went to AL, I'm guessing that the last benefits were paid to a survivor.  The only exception I can think of is that if your cousin was on disability and lived in AL but later moved to IL but was not still drawing disability at that time.

Added note:  Based on your additional information.  

Are you sure that you were looking up the right person - do you know that it's his SS number?  It could be someone else with the same name and even born on the same day and passed away in the same month.  

If you know it's the right SS number, it's also possible that your cousin had a child that you didn't know about.  I know he was young, but it is possible.  It is also possible that someone filed a fraudulent claim on his SS number.

It is also possible that it is an error in the SS index.  They do happen.  My step-father isn't even listed even though he was drawing SS when he passed away and my mother drew off his SS number until she was old enough to draw off her own.  

If it was me, I'd do some additional checking with family and maybe even contact the SS Admin to see if there was a child you didn't know about or if a fraudulent claim had been filed.

You didn't say how long ago this cousin died, but if there was a child involved, and the child was now an adult, the benefits would have stopped when the child turned 18 and the "last benefits" would have shown in the index - same situation if a survivor (spouse or child) had also passed away - last benefits would still be shown.  If someone was still recieving a check associated with that SS number it would say something like "none specified" which is the same thing that it would say if no benefits had been paid related to that SS #.  As for whether SS Admin will release the information, you would have to show legal standing to get the info. and that request is probably more likely to be granted from the mother than anyone else.  But that doesn't mean that you can't contact SS Admin and request it be checked out for possible fraud.  It just means they might not share the results with you when they do check it out.

Answer 2

Here's a thought:

The last benefit many times is the Social Security Death Benefit or Burial Benefit - it's about $250 and is paid to the surviving spouse or directly to the funeral home to help offset the burial costs.  The funeral home in Illinois might have been owned by a company in Alabama.

Just a thought.

Answer 3

Social Security benefits include a lot of things we wouldn't normally consider. If he appears in the SSDI, his account is closed. So there aren't any kids or other family members drawing from his account. But it is possible that someone like a headstone company from Montgomery received a $200 payment from SSA in his name. If he was only 19 and had no kids, there weren't too many benefits paid to anyone. So I wouldn't fret over it. No one at the Administration will share his benefit history, so it's a mystery that will never be definitively solved.

Answer 4

Thats where the last benefit check was sent to...

Answer 5

last benefits are insurance and lively hood and stuff liket hat.