Death Certificates

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Death certificates are issued by an official in the governmental jurisdiction where the deaths have occurred. Before death certificates can be issued a certificate is required either from a coroner or a physician. This certificate validates who the deceased is and the cause of the deceased’s death. The death certificate process should be started immediately upon a death and it is against the law for a physician to not report a death.

Death certificates contain the name of the deceased, the cause of the death and other pertinent information. Each jurisdiction has its own style of death certificates. Generally speaking, death certificates usually contain the above information as well as the residence of the deceased, the place of the deceased’s burial, the deceased’s date of birth and sometimes the deceased’s parents’ names. 

Death certificates are vital tools for anyone who is tracing their genealogy. If you are just starting your genealogy search death certificates are fairly easy to locate. Most states in the United States started requiring that death certificates be issued by 1900. Some states like New Hampshire have death certificates that date back to the 1640s. It is important to note that large metropolitan areas may keep their own records. While the state where the city is located may not have kept up with death records until the early 1900s, some cities kept their own records. For instance, Baltimore has death certificates which date back to 1875 while the state of Maryland itself did not start keeping this information until around 1898.

If you are doing a genealogy search it is important to keep in mind that death certificates are not perfect documents. There could be mistakes made on them. There could be misspelled names, mixed up dates and so on. However, the information that you will find on death certificates are usually fairly accurate. Even if the information that is listed happens to not be precise – it can give you a great starting point on your research.

If you are trying to locate death certificates you should start your search on the web sites of the state or territory where you think the deceased died. Go to the vital records area on the web sites and start your search there. You can also write a letter to the United States Department of Health and Human Services and request a booklet which contains the information on where you would write to obtain vital records in different states.