The budget bill signed into law last week includes a measure which closes the Social Security Death Master File (also known as the Social Security Death Index or SSDI) to public access for three years after a person's death. Supposedly this was a revenue enhancement, preventing identity fraud and the filing of false tax returns. I can't speak to those claims, but I know genealogists will miss using this valuable tool for their research. Judy G. Russell, blog-writer at www.legalgenealogist.com, has warned us about the possibility throughout the past year. Her advice now:

1. Don't bother to request SS-5s for individuals who've died in the past three years.
2. Don't expect any updates to SSDI until three years after an individual's death date.

Will future legislation further restrict access to SSDI? Who knows. At least the new SSDI limitation is three years, not 75 years like the census. And sites like Ancestry and FamilySearch will continue to make SSDI available.