Death certificates

How many to order

Count institutions, not tasks. Each one that requires a certified copy usually keeps it, so the number you need is roughly the number of organizations that will be told about the death and asked to do something as a result.

Most families land between eight and twelve. Ordering more at the outset costs a fee each; ordering more later costs a fee each plus a wait, which is why people almost always wish they had ordered more the first time.

When a photocopy will do

Subscriptions, utilities, memberships and most account closures accept a plain copy or nothing at all. Save the certified copies for institutions moving money or transferring title.

Two versions — but the states differ on what makes them different

Most states issue more than one version of a death certificate, and families reasonably assume the difference is cause of death. In one of Sahvelo's five states that is right. In the others the dividing line is something else entirely, and getting it wrong means holding a document an institution will refuse.

There are two independent questions here and merging them is the mistake that costs a fee and a fortnight. First: is this version legally usable at all, or is it marked as not valid to establish identity? Second: does it show cause of death, and are you entitled to that version? A cheaper certificate can be cheaper because it omits the cause — or because it is not a legal document.

Where the line is cause of death

Florida is the clean case. Any person of eighteen or over may obtain a certified copy without the cause of death, with the first five digits of the Social Security number redacted. The version showing cause of death is confidential for fifty years and restricted to a spouse, parent, child, grandchild or sibling, to someone who can document an interest in the estate, to their representative, or by court order. Both are certified and both work at a bank.^{Source 4}

Arizona reaches a similar place by drafting rather than by offering a choice: the certified copy issued on request excepts the portion of the certificate containing medical information, and a certified copy has the same status as the registered certificate itself. So the ordinary Arizona certified copy is the usable one and simply does not carry the medical detail.^{Source 1}

Where the line is whether the document is legally usable

In California and New Jersey the cheaper version is not a discount certified copy. California distinguishes an authorized copy, which needs a notarized sworn statement of eligibility, from an informational copy, which needs none and is marked as not valid to establish identity. New Jersey distinguishes a certified copy — raised seal, state safety paper, usable to establish identity — from a certification, which is plain paper, says on its face that it is not valid for identity or legal purposes, omits both the Social Security number and the cause of death, and is described by the state as generally only useful for genealogy.^{Source 3Source: N.J. Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry — order a vital record (opens in a new tab)•}

So the advice "order the cheaper one for routine tasks" is sound in Florida and wrong in California and New Jersey, where the cheaper one is the one no institution moving money will take. Sahvelo has not established a two-version distinction for New York, where the published rule is about who may obtain a certificate rather than about which certificate they get.^{Source: N.J. Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry — order a vital record (opens in a new tab)•Source 3}

Which one to actually order

For most estate tasks — banks, transfers, benefits — a certified copy without cause of death is enough, and where the state offers that combination it is the cheaper and less restricted route. Life insurance is the usual exception, because the insurer may need the cause to assess the claim. What is never enough is a version the state itself marks as not valid for legal purposes.

Which version an institution needs is usually the institution's rule rather than the state's. A bank closing an account, an insurer paying a claim and a court opening probate will want a certified copy. Some payroll departments, utilities and subscription services accept a scan or will verify the death another way. The question worth asking each one, before posting anything, is whether they require a certified original and whether they return it.

When the certificate is wrong

Errors are common, because the information is assembled quickly from a funeral director's intake and a physician's entry. A misspelled name, a wrong birth date, or a wrong Social Security number will stop a bank or an insurer cold.

1. Check the first copy carefully as soon as it arrives, before ordering the rest.
2. Correct it through the state vital records office that issued it, not through the funeral home, though the funeral home can often help.
3. Expect a correction to take weeks, and expect to supply documentary evidence of the correct information.

Check the first copy before you order ten more. Correcting the record after you hold a stack of wrong certificates means paying twice.

Where copies come from, and who orders the first batch

The funeral director usually orders the first set, because in most states they are the ones filing the certificate and they can request copies directly. Ask how many they are ordering and when they expect them, rather than assuming — this is a frequent reason a family ends up two short in week three, when the accounts are being closed and every institution wants one at once.

Additional copies come from the state vital records office, and in several states also from the county or local registrar where the death occurred. Ordering channels differ by state and typically include online, post and in person; some states route online orders through an authorized commercial processor rather than taking them directly.

An authorized processor is a contractor, not the government. It will charge its own fee on top of the state's. If a site is not on the state health department's own domain, check that the state names it as an authorized vendor before paying, and compare the total against ordering by post.

If the death happened in a different state from where the person lived, the certificate is registered and issued by the state where the death occurred, not the state of residence. Someone who lived in New York and died on holiday in Florida gets Florida certificates. The estate is still administered where they lived, so expect to be dealing with two states at once and order the copies from the one where the death happened.

New Jersey adds a step for anything going abroad. A certificate presented to a foreign government under the Hague Treaty needs an Apostille seal, it has to be requested on the original application rather than added later, and the seal itself is issued by the Department of the Treasury rather than by the health department. Check with the consulate first — not every country requires one.^{Source 12}