Omission of cause and manner of death on copies of death certificates. (FE)

Current law allows the registrar that issues a copy of the death certificate to issue, upon request, a copy that does not include the cause of death, but only for deaths that occurred before January 1, 2003. Under current law, a person does not have the option to request a copy of a death certificate that excludes the cause and manner of death for a death that occurred after December 31, 2002.

This bill expands the options for an authorized requester, allowing a registrar to issue, upon request, a copy of a death certificate that does not include the cause or manner of death, regardless of when the death occurred. The bill also removes the manner of death information from the standard fact-of-death information to be included on a copy of a death certificate. The bill instead includes the manner of death as part of a list of extended fact-of-death information provided to a person seeking a copy of a death certificate only upon request. The bill allows a person to request a copy of a death certificate that includes the extended fact-of-death information, but omits the cause and manner of death. The bill also limits access to the manner of death information until 50 years after a decedent's date of death.