A Civil Death Certificate is issued within a few days after the death of a person. The information contained in the civil record will depend on the prevailing laws in the place where the certificate is issued.
Early death records issued by towns or cities prior to civil registration usually contain the following information:
- name of deceased
- date of death
- place of death
In the United States, a death certificate is issued by the state where the death occurred. The following typical information about the decedent is noted on most Civil Death Certificates:
- name
- gender
- race
- date of death
- place of death
- cause of death
- marital status
- name of spouse
- occupation
- residence at the time of death
- age at the time of death
- date of birth
- place of birth
- name of father
- birth place of father
- name of mother
- birth place of mother
- burial location
- funeral home
While not every death certificate will contain all of the above information, it is still a good source for genealogical data. However, the accuracy of the data depends on the informant. Is the informant a close relative? Is the informant an unrelated caregiver? Is the informant an institution? Look for the source of the information contained in the death record. Would the informant have valid data?
Some death records have incorrect information. There is an Arkansas Death Record for a woman with the given names of Lorraine Evelyn who is listed as ‘Male” on the certificate. She was definitely not a male. The State of Arkansas indicated that only a member of her immediate family could make the gender correction by submitting a notarized statement and a supporting document. This is possible if there is a living member of her immediate family. Otherwise, the incorrect information will remain on the certificate.
For United States service men/women who died in a foreign country, the death is usually reported to the nearest U. S. consular office. A form OF-180 is prepared by the consul and a copy of the Report of Death is then filed permanently in the U.S. Department of State.
If available, obtain copies of the death records for your ancestors. Death dates will be verified. It’s possible to identify other relatives if they are an informant. If there are some unique characteristics on the death certificate – like occupation, parents’ names, or name of spouse – it might be possible to solve issues between two people with the same name.
The next BLOG will discuss where to find Death Certificates.
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©2014 Sharon D Monson