The DMF check verifies a professional's status against the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, to prevent identity misuse. It requires the professional's name and 9-digit SSN submitted via a POST request with authorization. A 200 response returns details including a boolean "deceased" field indicating a death record match, with additional personal and verification information. A 404 means no match was found.
What you send
Two fields, both required:
- Name (
name) — the professional’s name. - SSN (
ssn) — their Social Security Number, exactly 9 digits.
For your technical team
Submit with your bearer token in the Authorization header.
POST https://api.propelus.com/v1/deceased/search
{
"name": "Jordan Rivera",
"ssn": "123456789"
}What comes back
A 200 returns the search result; a 404 means no match was found. The field to watch is deceased.
| Field | Type | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| deceased | boolean | Whether a death record was matched. |
| code | string | Outcome code (default found). |
| detail | string | Human-readable detail. |
| firstName | string / null | Matched record’s first name. |
| middleName | string / null | Matched record’s middle name. |
| lastName | string / null | Matched record’s last name. |
| nameSuffix | string / null | Matched record’s name suffix. |
| dob | string / null | Date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| dod | string / null | Date of death (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| verificationCode | string | How the match was substantiated — verified, proof, or null. |
{
"code": "found",
"detail": "string",
"firstName": "Jordan",
"middleName": "M",
"lastName": "Rivera",
"nameSuffix": null,
"dob": "1985-01-01",
"dod": "2024-09-12",
"deceased": true,
"verificationCode": "verified"
}Reading the result:
When
deceased is true, the name and date fields describe the matched record. verificationCode tells you how strongly the match is substantiated.