The process of gathering public death records is relatively simple and with a little legwork most people can do this. Death records are obtained by a state or local office of vital records. Be aware that there are criteria that you must meet before the records will be turned over to you. You can perform a quick public death records search here.

Public Death Records and How To Obtain a Death Record

You will find that most, if not all, offices of vital records have restrictions in place on who they will release information to. Death records clearly fall into this category. In order to claim a record you must:

• Be a direct descendant of the deceased. Any parent, sibling, spouse, or child will qualify for this.
• If you do not meet the above criteria, then you must demonstrate that you have a legal or medical right to the information.
• Provide the requested proof of relationship to the deceased. Usually this is in the form of your driver’s license or passport. You should also be prepared with bill statements from places like your power company that provide proof of address.

It is important that you clarify the rules and laws of the city and state where you will be retrieving the public death records from. Although the information above is usually all that is required, there are times when you might need more information.

Public Death Records and Genealogy Research

If you are looking to obtain marriage, divorce, birth, and death records for genealogical research, the process is actually quite simple.

If you are digging deep and have discovered a relative that died more than 50 years ago, then chances are vital records offices at the city and state level will be willing to release this information with meeting the requirements listed above.

What you will need to do:

• Submit the request in writing.
• Provide them with suitable information to assist in locating the records.
• Try to provide accurate information such as first, last and middle names as well as birth and death dates. If exact dates are known, provide as educated a guess as you can make based on your research. Give them known locations to help with the search.
• Make sure to provide the reason why you are making the request and let them know where to send the information.
• Be prepared to pay a fee to the office for preparing this information for you.

Click Here To Start Your Records Search Online

Searching for public death records is easier than ever due to the internet and all of the online resources that have popped up. If you know the basic information of the person and record you are searching for, then you can begin now by clicking here.