Tips for Getting Public Death Records
If you are in the process of investigating your ancestry, then public death records may be of assistance to you. A public death record is a document signed by a physician which lists a person’s name, date of death and cause of death.
When you’re trying to piece together your family’s history, death records can help you find out parts of the puzzle. From the early 20th century to today, certified copies of public death records have been available. The National Center for Health Statisticsm, or NCHS, is the best place to begin your search.
The NCHS is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, where you can obtain birth, death, marriage, and divorce records. Because each state’s record keeping is slightly different, there is no set price for retrieving these vital records.
In most states, filling out an application and sending it to your state’s Vital Records Department with the required fee will get you a copy of the certified documents you need. The average cost of a certified copy is about $15. In some states it’s less, and others it’s more.
Resources like Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com are excellent and fast ways to search for ancestral death records. These sites even have records dating hundreds of years back. Depending on what you are looking for, you can receive some information for free, but other things will cost you a small fee.
If you’re serious about tracing your family’s history, it might behoove you to get a subscription plan so that you have plenty of access to records, instead of having to pay for each record you get. There’s actually a free 14-day trial going on right now that you can use with absolutely no risk.
As you can see, there are a variety of choices available when it comes to locating free public death records. You might also want to check with your municipal building if the records are local.
They may be able to direct you to the right department where you can get a copy of the records you’re seeking quickly and easily.