Record Layout
Record Layout
| POSITION | DESCRIPTION | FIELD SIZE |
|---|---|---|
| POSITION 1 | DESCRIPTION -BLANK, OR A (ADD), C (CHANGE), OR D (DELETE) *** | FIELD SIZE - 1 |
| POSITION 2-10 | DESCRIPTION -SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER | FIELD SIZE - 9 |
| POSITION 11-30 | DESCRIPTION - LAST NAME | FIELD SIZE – 20 * |
| POSITION 31-34 | DESCRIPTION – NAME SUFFIX | FIELD SIZE – 4 * |
| POSITION 35-49 | DESCRIPTION – FIRST NAME | FIELD SIZE – 15 * |
| POSITION 50-64 | DESCRIPTION – MIDDLE NAME | FIELD SIZE – 15 * |
| POSITION 65 | DESCRIPTION - V OR P CODE (VERIFIED OR PROOF CODE) *** | FIELD SIZE – 1 * |
| POSITION 66-73 | DESCRIPTION – DATE OF DEATH (MM,DD,CC,YY) | FIELD SIZE – 8 * |
| POSITION 74-81 | DESCRIPTION – DATE OF BIRTH (MM,DD,CC,YY) | FIELD SIZE – 8 * |
| POSITION 82-83 | DESCRIPTION – BLANKS ***** | ** |
| POSITION 84-88 | DESCRIPTION – BLANKS ***** | ** |
| POSITION 89-93 | DESCRIPTION – BLANKS ***** | ** |
| POSITION 94-100 | DESCRIPTION – BLANKS |
* Revised 3/2001 to expand the name field, add the middle name, suffix and V/P fields, and adjust remaining field position accordingly.
** Revised November 1, 2011 to remove the State/County Code of Residence, Zip Code – Last Residence, and Zip code – Lump Sum Payment fields as a result of no longer publishing protected state records.
*** BLANK = ONLY ENTIRE REPLACEMENT FULL FILES WILL HAVE A BLANK IN POSITION 1 (ADDs, CHANGEs, and DELETEs ARE ONLY ON MONTHLY OR WEEKLY UPDATES).
A = NEW DEATHS TO BE ADDED TO YOUR MASTER DMF DATABASE, OR REPLACE ANY CURRENT MASTER FILES ENTRIES (AS IF CHANGES), FOR VARIOUS REASONS, YOU MAY FIND THAT: AN UPDATE “A” IS FOR AN IDENTICAL ENTRY ON YOUR MASTER DMF – SO REPLACE CURRENT ENTRY OR IGNORE THIS UPDATE "A"; OR AN UPDATE "A" IS FOR SAME SSN ON YOUR MASTER FILE, BUT WITH SOME OTHER DIFFERENT DATA – SO REPLACE CURRENT ENTRY WITH THIS LATEST DATA
C = CHANGES MADE TO THE RECORDS ON THE DMF DURING THAT MONTHLY/WEEKLY PERIOD (SUCH AS IN DATE OF BIRTH OR DEATH, ETC). THIS ENTIRE “C” RECORD FOR THAT SSN SHOULD REPLACE ANY CURRENT RECORD YOU HAVE ON YOUR MASTER DMF, OR BE ADDED IF NO ENTRY FOUND ON YOUR MASTER DMF, (AGAIN FOR VARIOUS REASONS, YOU MAY NOT FIND THE SSN ON YOUR MASTER DATABASE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN KEEPING UP-TO-DATE).
D = DELETES: FOR ANY SSN RECORD PREVIOUSLY ON THE DMF WHICH WAS FOUND TO BE ERRONEOUS AND SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM YOUR MASTER DMF; OR IF (FOR VARIOUS REASONS) NO CURRENT RECORD ON YOUR MASTER FILE, IGNORE THIS DELETE.
*****V (VERIFIED) = REPORT VERIFIED WITH A FAMILY MEMBER OR SOMEONE ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILY. P (PROOF) = DEATH CERTIFICATE (OR REQUIRED INFORMATION) OBSERVED. N OR BLANK = PRIOR TO USING V OR P CODES, OR FAMILY RELIABLE SOURCE, BUT NO INFORMATION MEETING V OR P REQUIREMENTS.
***** ALWAYS BLANK AFTER NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PLEASE SEE ATTACHED LIST FOR VALID VALUES PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 1, 2011.
NOTE: LIMITED ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS MUST NOT TAKE ANY ACTION AGAINST ANY INDIVIDUAL WITHOUT FURTHER INVESTIGATION TO VERIFY ANY DEATH LISTED, EVEN IF V OR P CODES ARE PRESENT. FURTHER, SSA DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF THE DEATH MASTER FILE.
| STATE CODE | STATE NAME |
|---|---|
| 1 | ALABAMA |
| 2 | ALASKA |
| 3 | ARIZONA |
| 4 | ARKANSAS |
| 5 | CALIFORNIA |
| 6 | COLORADO |
| 7 | CONNECTICUT |
| 8 | DELAWARE |
| 9 | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |
| 10 | FLORIDA |
| 11 | GEORGIA |
| 12 | HAWAII |
| 13 | IDAHO |
| 14 | ILLINOIS |
| 15 | INDIANA |
| 16 | IOWA |
| 17 | KANSAS |
| 18 | KENTUCKY |
| 19 | LOUISIANA |
| 20 | MAINE |
| 21 | MARYLAND |
| 22 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| 23 | MICHIGAN |
| 24 | MINNESOTA |
| 25 | MISSISSIPPI |
| 26 | MISSOURI |
| 27 | MONTANA |
| 28 | NEBRASKA |
| 29 | NEVADA |
| 30 | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| 31 | NEW JERSEY |
| 32 | NEW MEXICO |
| 33 | NEW YORK |
| 34 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| 35 | NORTH DAKOTA |
| 36 | OHIO |
| 37 | OKLAHOMA |
| 38 | OREGON |
| 39 | PENNSYLVANIA |
| 40 | PUERTO RICO |
| 41 | RHODE ISLAND |
| 42 | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| 43 | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| 44 | TENNESSEE |
| 45 | TEXAS |
| 46 | UTAH |
| 47 | VERMONT |
| 48 | VIRGIN ISLANDS |
| 49 | VIRGINIA |
| 50 | WASHINGTON |
| 51 | WEST VIRGINIA |
| 52 | WISCONSIN |
| 53 | WYOMING |
| 54 | NEW YORK CITY |
| COUNTRY CODE | COUNTRY NAME |
|---|---|
| 55 | ASIA |
| 56 | CANADA |
| 57 | CENTRAL AMERICA AND WEST INDIES |
| 58 | EUROPE |
| 59 | MEXICO |
| 60 | OCEANIA (AUSTRALIA AND ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC) |
| 61 | PHILIPPINE ISLANDS |
| 62 | SOUTH AMERICA |
| 63 | AREAS UNDER U.S. ADMINISTRATION: [CANAL ZONE, CANTON ISLANDS, CAROLINE ISLANDS, MARIANA ISLANDS (OTHER THAN GUAM), MARSHALL ISLANDS, MIDWAY ISLANDS, WAKE ISLANDS] |
| 64 | AMERICAN SAMOA |
| 65 | GUAM |
| 97 | NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS |
NOTE: IF ANY OTHER VALUES ARE SHOWN IN THESE TWO CODE POSITIONS, YOU SHOULD IGNORE THEM. FOR YOUR PURPOSES, IT MEANS THAT SSA DOES NOT HAVE A STATE/COUNTY CODE FOR YOU.
NOTE: It has been determined that the zeros are present on the DMF when a Date of Death is deleted. this occurs whenever a correction is made to a previously reported death, whether or not the corrected death was related to our special death processing run. In other words, whenever a previously reported death is corrected, NTIS receives a correction in their regular update files which includes zeros in the date of death along with a "delete" indicator. Customers should be processing these records using the "delete" indicator along with the zeros to remove any previously reported death from your versions of the DMF. If there is no previously reported death in your records, you should remove the deleted record from your version of the DMF.