I need to know who all is allowed to pick up a death certificate, one of my friends. Died on Friday 02/29/2008 due to a fatal car accident, and her family has been contacted but because they never cared about her, they dont want to help bury her, The woman who basically opened her door for this girl, needs to know how to get her death certificate. She has her Social security card and her births certificate... Who is allowed to pick this up? Thanks to all and god bless.
Tags: Whitney Houston, births, Los Angeles County California, God, death certificate, social security, Disaster Accident
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Death certificates can, and have been, misused for identity theft.. thus they ARE NOT public documents. Whatever their personal feelings, her family is still legally her next of kin, and the only ones who are authorized to have that document. It is not clear how old she was.. so it isn’t clear if they have any legal obligation for burial arrangements.
The fact that someone else has her birth cert and ss card, does not change it.. legally, those should be returned to her family.
These are horrible circumstances, and I am so sorry for your loss, and for the issues facing her friend. I am not sure how the mortuary is handling it.. if they did something illegal, the family could come back and cause problems for the mortician as well.
Those who think these are public documents are very mistaken.
Next of kin; executor or administrator of estate. Period.
Edit: a COPY is not a public record in every state; and it is not the original death certificate, certified copies of which are needed to conduct business on behalf of the deceased.
I would think this would public information, I’d just make some phone calls and see where it’s located at.
Anyone can get a copy of a death certificate…it’s a matter of public record.
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