It’s the kind of estate question that’s both oddly common and incredibly difficult to answer: What if someone disappears—and no one knows if they’ve died?
A client recently faced exactly this. Her daughter, named as a beneficiary on her estranged father’s retirement account, was contacted by the financial institution holding the funds. They couldn’t locate him—and neither could she. Their question was simple but unsettling: Is he deceased? And, if so, how can she get a death certificate to move forward?
What AI Says — and Why It’s Not Enough
We posed this question to two leading AI engines. The answers pointed to familiar tools:
- Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
- Ancestry.com
- FamilySearch.org
These are decent starting points, especially for genealogical research. But here’s a few nuances those AI tools don’t know:
- SSDI is outdated. It only covers deaths reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and typically ends in 2014 for publicly accessible records.
- The real-time data is locked away. The SSA’s modern death database—the Death Master File (DMF)—is restricted. Only “certified” institutions, such as major banks and insurers, can access it.
- Even private tools like Ancestry.com rely mostly on public obituaries and grave data—not official government death records.
So What Can You Actually Do?
- Check if you have any connections to “certified” entities. The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) keeps a public list of institutions certified to access the DMF. If you or your client has ties to one, they may be able to help.
- Work with an attorney. Attorneys with access to legal research tools like WestLaw PeopleMap may be able to perform more sophisticated searches or petition for information directly from the SSA.
- Request records from local counties. For more recent events (as opposed to genealogical searches), death records are usually held by the county where the death occurred—which is exactly the problem if the last known location is unknown. In these cases, a hired attorney can write to multiple counties or file court petitions to aid in the investigation.
- Understand the time barrier. Free archival sites like FamilySearch only make death records available after several decades—typically 50 to 75 years postmortem.
- Petition the court. If all else fails, and and a person has been missing for an extended period, some states allow for a court petition to have them declared legally deceased, which can serve as a substitute for a traditional death certificate. There are formal procedures to declare someone legally deceased after a period of disappearance (often 5–7 years).
The Value of Legal Insight—and Human Support
This is exactly the kind of situation where AI, while incredibly valuable, may fall short in some respects. These tools can point to public resources—but they can’t always navigate the legal gray areas, interpret the rules, or advocate on your behalf.
At Wealth.com, we bridge that gap. Our Attorney Network provides the kind of practical, real-world support financial advisors need when their clients face complex estate planning questions—especially those that require more than a database search.
Hear from a customer who recently leveraged the Attorney Network, Jared Tanimoto, CFP®, Founder & Financial Planner at Sedai Wealth:
“I actually had a great experience using Wealth.com recently with a client in Hawaii. We were setting up a trust, and as part of the process needed to retitle their home. Hawaii has a unique system called Land Court, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the titling process. Wealth.com connected both me and my client to a local Hawaii estate attorney who understood the nuances of Land Court and handled everything smoothly. The coordination was seamless, and it made the client experience feel really polished.”
Whether you’re trying to confirm a death, resolve beneficiary questions, or support a family in transition, our platform doesn’t just give you the tools—it connects you to the people who know how to use them.
