Occasionally you will encounter situations where an individual contacts a Field Office
(FO) to inquire about possible auxiliary or survivor benefits but furnishes either
no social security number (SSN) or an invalid SSN for the Number Holder (NH). You
cannot request an earnings record without the NH's valid SSN resulting in inability
to verify insured status as described in RS 00301.105. However, if the individual insists on filing, you must take a paper application
to establish protective filing and follow instructions in RM 00207.001 and RM 00207.010 to assist the applicant locating the NH’s SSN.
Once the claimant files the application, allow reasonable time to provide the NH’s
SSN and any other essential evidence as per GN 01010.410. Most of the applicants return to the FO and provide enough information to locate
the NH’s SSN. However, there are situations where the applicant is unable to provide
any additional information, does not return within the given time or just simply moves
without notifying the FO. As a result, the claim becomes “abandoned”.