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).

Death records in the Bureau of Vital Statistics date back to 1917 although the Office also has limited records of deaths that were recorded in 1877. Anyone can order death certificates in Florida although the cause of death is kept in confidentiality for up to 50 years from the time of a person's death. The cause of death will only be released to the spouse, children of legal age, siblings as well as to grandchildren.

To request for a death certificate, one should first determine if he or she is eligible to purchase the certificate. Certificates without cause of death are accessible by anyone. Individuals who are related to the decedent, persons who have a will, though can only access a certificate with the cause of death and any person that maybe authorized to act in behalf of the people mentioned. Once one determines their eligibility, they can request the Office for the death certificate.

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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