How are death certificates issued and who can access them in the United States?
Executive summary
Death certificates in the U.S. are completed by a certifier (physician, medical examiner or coroner) and filed with the local or state vital records office; the U.S. Standard Certificate of Death is the template used nationwide and jurisdictions report roughly 2.8 million deaths per year into the National Vital Statistics System [1] [2]. Access rules vary by state: many jurisdictions issue certified copies only to named close relatives or people with a legal need while informational copies or older records may be public after decades [3] [4] [5].
1. Who creates the certificate — the medical, legal and bureaucratic chain
A death certificate’s medical portion is completed by the certifier: usually the attending physician, or when required by law, a medical examiner or coroner who determines cause and manner of death; the U.S. Standard Certificate of Death documents who completed the cause-of-death section and requires a signature of the certifier [1]. The U.S. has a fragmented death‑investigation system — about 2,300 jurisdictions mix coroners (often elected) and medical examiners (often appointed) with different authority and resources — so who signs and how fast varies by place [6].
2. Where and when the certificate is filed
After certification, the document is filed through the county registrar, state vital records office or state health department; local county offices often handle initial registration and the state compiles data for the National Vital Statistics System [7] [2]. Processing speed varies widely: some counties can issue certified copies the same day if the record is already in the system, while other jurisdictions typically take days to weeks and medical‑examiner cases take longer [8] [7] [4].
3. What’s on the form — public‑health and legal functions
The death certificate serves dual roles: a legal document needed for probate, insurance and title transfers and a public‑health surveillance tool. The U.S. Standard Certificate of Death includes personal data, place and time of death, and a certified medical cause of death; public‑health authorities use this for mortality statistics and policy [1] [6]. Federal reporting aggregates these local records — about 2.8 million deaths a year feed national mortality datasets [2].
4. Who may obtain a certified copy — state rules and common practice
Access depends on state law. Many states restrict certified copies to immediate family or people with a demonstrated legal interest (spouse, children, executor), while informational or long‑old records can be made public. Federal guidance and state portals note that “only certain family members may be able to get a death certificate” immediately, and some states release records to the public only after 25–50 years [3] [9]. Some jurisdictions explicitly require proof of legal need or photo ID for “interested parties” and reserve certified copies for those entitled by law [10] [5].
5. Workarounds and third‑party ordering services
Funeral homes commonly obtain certified copies on behalf of families; third‑party services such as VitalChek operate as online intermediaries for many jurisdictions and use identity verification technologies to process orders, but they charge fees and act only as agents — the certificate still issues from the government office [11] [12]. The record you receive may be a certified legal copy or an informational copy flagged “not for legal purposes,” and you must check which form you need for trusts, insurance claims, or vehicle/title transfers [5] [11].
6. Exceptions, foreign deaths and expedited needs
U.S. citizens who die abroad get a Consular Report of Death Abroad (CRDA or CRODA) from the State Department which U.S. agencies will accept for estate and benefit purposes; embassies generally give CRDAs to next of kin or legal representatives and the consular process can take months in some countries [3] [13]. States can change practices to ease access in urgent cases: for example, West Virginia began issuing certified copies even when cause/manner were pending to avoid family delays [14].
7. Limits, tensions and competing viewpoints
Public‑health advocates emphasize comprehensive, timely cause‑of‑death data for surveillance and policy; jurisdictions, however, must balance that with privacy and fraud prevention, leading to varied restrictions on certified copies and timelines [6] [3]. Genealogists and historians push for broader public access to older records — the National Archives and state programs make many older death indexes and certificates available after statutory privacy windows [15] [16]. Available sources do not mention a single federal rule that standardizes who can receive certified copies across all states — instead, state law and local practice determine access (not found in current reporting).
Limitations: state statutes and office practices change frequently; readers with a specific case should consult the vital records office where the death occurred or the state health department for current eligibility, fees and processing timelines [5] [17].