My husband who is 78 and lives in AZ. His son has a power of attorney both general and medical. I live in Maine. I have a life insurance policy on my husband. His son would not tell me if my husband dies. Is there a company who could monitor his Social Security number to be alerted of his death and order a death certificate?

Hi. Not the best of knowledge. The Privacy Act bars Social Security from releasing information about a person unless there is a specific exception. One common exception is if the release of information is necessary in the course of Social Security's operations. Basically, that means if you would be eligible for survivor benefits in the event of your husband's death, then you could contact Social Security directly to find out if your husband is deceased. I can't think of any exception to the Privacy Act that would allow release of information about a person to a private company, however.

Best, Jerry