Wednesday, 4 June 2014

Florida Death Notices

By Ben Kingsley


Some business transactions require the presentation of supporting documents such as birth certificates, death records and marriage certificate as well divorce decree to establish one's identity. For those who lost their own copies or need an extra copy, they can get one from the Florida Vital Statistics Office. Florida death notices or death records are useful to those who need to claim their deceased benefits and in such cases when there is a dispute with properties left by the deceased. It is also useful for those who want to determine the cause of death of the person or are compiling statistical report(s).

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.

A written request is required by the Office to process the request. The person requesting the copies of the record should include the deceased's name, day of death, birth date, county and social security number is optional. He or she should also include their relationship with the deceased so that the office will determine if the "cause of death" will be included in the certificate. The person who requests the information should also include their contact details as well as a copy of any valid id with photo. Submission of original documents is not required.

Each certificate costs $5 and the person requesting the certificate can request for additional copies with each copy costing $4. For those who are not sure of the exact date of death, they can add a year or two to the search for $2 per year. One can add as many years as they want and the maximum fee is $50 regardless of how many the years one may have requested for research. One should keep in mind that fees are not refundable and only fees for additional copies are returned by the Office. If the Office finds no records, they will issue a Certificate of No Public Records and will send it to the person requesting the information. Rush and express delivery are available with each costing $10 on top of the service fee. For express delivery, the Office requires the person requesting to include pre-paid express delivery envelope. Payments can be made via money orders or checks. For those in-person requests, credit cards and cash payments are allowed.

Fees for the certificate are $5 with additional copies at $4 each. If the exact date or year is unknown, the researcher must include $2 for each additional year that he wants to be searched. Maximum search fee is $50. Processing time takes about 2-3 weeks depending on the volume of requests the office receives. Fees are not refundable; however, additional copies charges will be reimbursed. Delivery time varies and is not included in the processing time. Requests are sent via standard mail unless a prepaid or shipping arrangement is made. Rush deliveries cost about $10 additional and express delivery costs about $10. Express delivery should include a pre-paid express delivery envelope and signature is required upon delivery. To pay for the certificates, only money orders and checks are allowed. For in-person request, cash, money order, checks and credit cards are accepted. For a more convenient way to access death records and other vital records, one can check out several online sites that do provide public records searches. One can view the information and make their request if they need the records certified. This is the most convenient way to access vital records without having to visit the Vital Statistics Office. Some commercial public search sites also accept credit card payments and can be convenient for those who do not have the time to go to the Florida Vital Statistics Office.




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