Texas Death Records are maintained by the state’s central repository of public records which is at the Texas Vital Statistics Office, Department of State Health Services. They are also maintained at a country registrar’s office because that is where they are initially recorded. The Vital Statistics Office maintains death records dating as far back as 1903. For records prior to that year, they are only available at the specific country registrar’s office.
Death documents have to exist at least 25 years before they are considered as public documents. And as part of public documents, any member of the public has the right to access them as long as they have the consent of the people, through a notarized statement, that have direct access to them such as family members. However, documents that have not reached 25 years are only accessible by the direct relatives of the dead person or anyone that has the consent from the court. If it has not reached 90 days after the person has died, a document may not be available for request yet.
There is a request form available at the Vital Statistics Office. The form can also be downloaded straight from their official website. If a person personally requests for the records at the office, he or she may get them on the same day, but in some cases, it may take 2 days or more. It costs $22 for each request and it is payable by money order, check or cash. A request may also be mailed for a fee of $20 but it will take longer to process, taking about 6 to 8 weeks. The retrieval process can be fast-forwarded but there is an additional fee. There is no refund policy even if no records are found.
When making a request, it is crucial to supply as much details about the document. The more details are supplied, the better the chances are of locating the right document. If the exact year of the document is unknown, an estimate of years should be included so the process does not become that long. Vital details that are required to be supplied include the name of the dead person, date and location where the person died, birth date, and more.
Nowadays, you can retrieve public files from private websites. Such websites are allowed by the court to disseminate public files to the public. The websites are categorized as either for free or has corresponding charges. There are various websites you can use but prior to deciding which one to utilize, find out first if other clients have a positive feedback on them or not. For sure there is a website that can offer what you need.
Since death records became available online, more people began to access them. Doing a Death Search is now more convenient because it can be done virtually anywhere as long as there is a computer and an Internet connection. A search can be initiated by providing even just the full name of the deceased and results are displayed on the computer screen in just a matter of seconds.
For more reading on How To Find Death Records, visit this website that offers tips and resources to conduct Free Public Death Records Online.