Which family members are considered immediate family for death certificate requests in each state?

1. What “immediate family” usually means — the broad pattern

Most state vital‑records offices limit certified death‑certificate access to immediate family and people with a demonstrable legal or financial interest; commonly named relatives are spouse, parent, child and often siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, with executors or estate representatives sometimes qualifying if they can show authority ^{[2] [5] [6]}.

2. Concrete state definitions and examples: Texas, South Carolina, New Mexico

Texas instructs requesters to consult its “Persons Qualified to Request or Change Records” page and restricts certified copies to immediate family without additional documentation, plus it maintains a 25‑year restricted access window for death certificates ^{[3] [7]}. South Carolina’s public health site explicitly allows “immediate family members” or their legal representatives to obtain certified copies and offers only a limited statement of death to other applicants; South Carolina also defines “immediate family member” on its site ^[8]. New Mexico law lists “mother, father, sibling, child, current spouse, or maternal or paternal grandparent” as immediate family, with a specific note that a paternal grandparent’s eligibility can depend on paternity being recorded ^[4].

3. Common extensions and exceptions — executors, beneficiaries, and public copies

Beyond relatives, many states permit estate executors, administrators, insurance beneficiaries or government agencies to obtain certificates if they can prove a tangible interest (such as being named in a policy or court order); some states provide informational or limited extracts to the general public while withholding certified copies’ full content ^{[2] [8] [5]}.

4. The role of identification and documentary proof

Even when relation makes a requester eligible, states routinely require government ID and proof of relationship—birth certificates, court orders, letters testamentary—to verify eligibility before issuing certified copies, and some will accept a notarized statement from an immediate family member to facilitate an outside requester ^{[7] [5]}.

5. Privacy rationales, timelines, and state variation

States justify restrictions as privacy and fraud prevention; timelines differ—some states make records public quickly, others impose privacy periods (Texas’ 25‑year limit is an example) or restrict records with sensitive data like cause of death or Social Security numbers ^{[3] [2] [1]}.

6. Watch for vendor framing and secondary reporting

Consumer sites and private vendors (e.g., Trustworthy, VitalRecordsOnline) aggregate state rules and correctly note state variance but may emphasize convenience services or product offerings; cross‑checking against the state vital records or health department is necessary because proprietary guides sometimes simplify or generalize eligibility categories ^{[9] [10] [2]}.

7. What this reporting cannot do: no exhaustive per‑state list here

The sources provided include specific definitions for some states (Texas, South Carolina, New Mexico) and general summaries for most others, but they do not supply a complete, authoritative list of which exact relatives each of the 50 states (and D.C.) calls “immediate family”; therefore a state‑by‑state authoritative compilation requires consulting each state’s vital records office or the CDC’s state links referenced by USA.gov ^{[1] [3] [8]}.

8. Practical next step for families and professionals

For any given death, the definitive instruction is to consult the vital records office of the state where the death occurred; those official pages give the legally recognized immediate‑family list, ID and documentation requirements, and any privacy window or available “informational” extracts ^{[1] [3] [8]}.