The Importance of the Death Certificate
When a death occurs, the first and most important document to be completed is the Registration of Death Form or what is commonly referred to as the Death Certificate. Without it, final care and disposition of the deceased cannot take place. In order to be valid, the Death Certificate must be signed by the attending physician or family physician who is familiar with the deceased’s medical history. Most hospitals will not release the remains until the certificate is signed. This can cause delays for the funeral home, particularly on weekends and holidays when the physician is not working.
To accurately complete the medical information required on the certificate, the physician may require an autopsy to verify or determine the cause of death. If the death is sudden, unexpected or as a result of foul play, the family cannot overrule the decision. A family may also choose to have an autopsy performed to verify the cause of death or to seek more information about the deceased’s medical history, which might assist his or her offspring.
When an autopsy is to be performed, delays are also encountered by the funeral home both in the release of the remains and preparation for viewing. For example, if death occurs in mid-afternoon and a full autopsy is required, the remains may not be released for 24 hours after the death. An additional hour or two over and above the typical time period will then be needed for preparation. This time frame is reduced when a partial or less intrusive autopsy is performed. As a forensic autopsy has priority over an autopsy requested by the family, further delays in the release of the remains beyond the 24-hour period could also be encountered.
Once the remains is ready for release from the hospital, the funeral director conducting the removal will be given the original Death Certificate which at this point is usually only partially completed.
Death At Home
Should an unexpected death occur at home, a number of options are available. If a physician is in attendance at the time of death, the funeral director may bring a blank Death Certificate to be completed by the physician during the removal. If not in attendance, the physician may give a verbal approval to the funeral director and family to remove the remains. Shortly thereafter the funeral director would then go to the physician’s office or home to get the certificate signed. If a sudden or unexpected death occurs at home, a physician should be called. In the case where an autopsy is required, the funeral director would first convey the deceased to the hospital.
Once the Death Certificate is in the hands of the funeral director, it then becomes the funeral home’s responsibility to complete and register it. Completing the certificate usually entails verifying personal information about the deceased such as age, date of birth, principal residence, employer, et cetera, determining family information, like the names and birth places of the deceased’s mother and father and providing burial information. Shortly after the funeral service the original Death Certificate is registered at the Department of Vital Statistics. Funeral homes are not permitted to give family members copies of the Death Certificate. True copies of the Death Certificate can be obtained from the attending or family physician or in the case of a reportable death, from the Medical Examiner.
When a Death Certificate is registered without all of the required information, the Department of Vital Statistics will send a written request to the funeral home for this information. This is a common occurrence as some family members are not aware of or recall certain information, such as their grandparent’s birth place or grandmother’s maiden name and with no other immediate next-of-kin living, there is no one to provide this information. Even when the funeral director indicates this information to be “unknown”, Vital Statistics will still send out its inquiry.
There are times when the information cannot be provided because the family has not determined what they would like to do. For example, the funeral director is required to provide the name of the cemetery in which the deceased was buried along with the date of interment. However, with cremation and the many options available, some families are uncertain as to what to do with the cremated remains and/or decide to delay the interment, thus preventing the funeral home from supplying this information.
Regardless of one’s citizenship, when an individual dies outside his or her own country the death must be registered in the country in which the death occurs, or in a case where death occurs in international waters, the country to which the remains are conveyed. Again, the Death Certificate becomes a critical document, this time in the repatriation process. As the original certificate must be registered, embassies will require both a registered copy, which does not contain the cause of death, and a notarized copy of the original, which has been verified as a true copy by a Notary or Commissioner of Oaths. These, along with other documents, are placed in a shipping envelope attached to the shipping container for inspection by Customs Officials. Errors in the preparation of these documents can cause undue delay and hardship for families awaiting the return of their loved one.
In theory the registration of the Death Certificate should ordinarily take place before the burial of the deceased. Once registered the Department of Vital Statistics will issue a Burial Permit. The permit must then be mailed or delivered to the cemetery staff prior to or on the day of burial. In practice, the Death Certificate is usually registered after the burial and the Burial Permit is issued by the funeral home on behalf of the Department of Vital Statistics.
In addition, to its importance in the burial and repatriation of the deceased, the registered copy of the Death Certificate or a similar document verifying Proof of Death is required by many insurance companies, financial institutions and government agencies in matters pertaining to the settlement of the deceased’s estate. Most funeral homes will register their Death Certificates at least once a week. Registered copies may be picked up by the Public from the Department of Vital Statistics at a cost of $25.00 per copy. The registered copy does not include the cause of death.