Vital records offer a convenient way for one to prove their own identity. Many government agencies in fact request for vital records such as birth, death, marriage and divorce records in their everyday transactions with the public. For those interested to obtain a copy of Florida death notices, they can do so as it is easy to get hold of one from the State. Death records are important as it can serve as a supporting document to claim death benefits, spousal support and even to fix property issues. Some death records can also be useful in determining the cause of death and if it can affect the future generations of a specific family.
For those who are interested to obtain a copy of death records, they can visit the Bureau of Vital Statistics Office during business hours. The Office houses records that date back to 1917. Some records that date back to 1877 are also available; however, these records are only limited due to the fact that state-wide registrations were only imposed in the early 1900′s. Florida death records are available to the public and can be accessed by anyone; however, the cause of death is restricted for those who are not eligible under the law. The confidentiality is upheld for 50 years from the time of death of the person and will only become public records after the time limit expires. The cause of death is only accessible by the spouse, their children of legal age, parents, siblings and those authorized by the court.
To request for a death certificate, one should first determine if he or she is eligible to purchase the certificate. Certificates without cause of death are accessible by anyone. Individuals who are related to the decedent, persons who have a will, though can only access a certificate with the cause of death and any person that maybe authorized to act in behalf of the people mentioned. Once one determines their eligibility, they can request the Office for the death certificate. To make a request, send in a written request including the deceased person’s name, sex and date of birth, county and social security number if available. The person making the request should also include his or her contact information as well as relationship the deceased person. Include the mailing address, contact number as well as copy of a valid id with photo. One should send copies instead of original documents.
Each certified copy costs about $5 and additional copies cost $4. For those who are not sure of the exact date the person died, they can also request to have a search done. Each year added to the request will cost about $2 up to $50 max. Fees are not refundable and in cases where the Office fails to retrieve any details or find no records, the Office will issue a Certificate of No Public Records. While fees are not refundable, those who requested for additional copies will have the cost of the additional copies refunded. Processing time from the Office will take about two to three weeks depending on when the deceased died. Those who request for rush deliveries will have to pay additional $10 for the shipping. Express delivery is also available and payment is $10. For express delivery, the person requesting the information should include a prepaid express delivery envelope together with their request. Payments in the form of money order and checks are accepted. For walk ins, cash, credit card, checks and money orders are allowed.
For faster transaction and processing time, one can also access death records and other vital records from online vendors that offer public records search.
For more on Public Government Resources such as Death Record Florida, visit this site at Public Obituary Search Online.