Authorized Death Certificate Applicants
Applicant is the:
- A surviving spouse, parent, child, grandparent, sibling, or legal guardian;
- An individual who can establish a familial relationship to the deceased
- Funeral director of record or agent thereto, working in the capacity of their official business;
- Person with a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction;
- A person who was a co-owner or a joint tenant on real or personal property of the decedent;
- A person listed in a will of the decedent, provided the will is in probate;
- Complete Application signed by the Applicant
- Fees
- 1 primary form of ID of the Applicant
- Legal documentation which demonstrates the Applicant’s relationship to the Decedent (e.g. last will and testament, signed contracts, court orders, marriage records, birth/death records, census records, insurance beneficiary claim letter showing applicant is a beneficiary, current utility/bank statement/joint tenancy documents showing both Decedent and Applicant’s names, etc.)
Example: To prove relationship to your maternal grandmother, you could use 1) your birth record linking you to your mother AND 2) the birth or death certificate of your mother that links her to your grandmother. You must provide a full chain documenting how you are related to the person whose record you are requesting.
- Legal representative of the estate of the deceased as documented by an order from a court of competent jurisdiction;
- Complete Application signed by the Applicant
- Fees
- Attorney Bar Card
- If attorney is using a runner
- Letter from attorney on firm letterhead identifying the runner
- Legal documentation which demonstrates the Applicant is the attorney of record for the Subject’s estate e.g. client agreement OR
- Legal documentation establishing the attorney is representing a person/business with an administrative relationship to the decedent. Example: client agreement and contract between client and decedent
- Genealogist: Open Records
- Deaths occurring 50+ years ago
- Complete Application
- Signature of the Applicant on the Application
- Fees
- 1 primary form of ID of the Applicant
- Genealogist: Closed Records
- Deaths occurring less than 50 years ago
- Complete Application
- Signature of the Applicant on the Application
- Fees
- 1 primary form of ID of the Applicant
- 1) a statement signed by a family member, proof of familial relationship to the decedent, and a copy of the family member’s ID or 2) court order
- Oil & Gas, Mineral Companies, etc.
- Complete Application
- Signature of the Applicant on the Application
- Fees
- 1 primary form of ID of the Applicant
- Copy of probate, will, court documents, deeds, etc. that provide a clear relationship between the Decedent’s estate and the applicant’s firm
- Internal documents created by the applicant will not be accepted
