Free Public Death Records

By Claire Dowell


The death of an individual may be the saddest news that we can hear about. Knowing about the death of a person living in Virginia can be done in many ways. The obituary section in newspapers is just one place to know about the death person. Virginia death records are public documents which can be accessed by the residents of the state.

Death records are used when conducting a research on the history of a certain family. IT is also one of the primary documents needed when processing legal matters such as insurance clams and transfer of property. The widowed spouse will be required to provide the death certificate of the deceased partner if he/she plans to marry again.

Details about the death of an individual are the highlights of the death certificate. Information such as the reason why the person died and the place as well as the date of death is indicated on the document. Personal details of the deceased individual can also be obtained such as the complete name, county of residence and the date of birth. One can also find the names of the immediate family members of the deceased. The state of Virginia indicates details about the interment service on the record.

The cost for requesting for a death certificate in the state of Virginia is $12 per copy. Only the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Richmond and Norfolk have kept records that were registered since 1896 to June 4, 1912. The rest of the cities in Virginia only have records from June 14, 1912. Not all can request for a copy of a death certificate. Immediate family members of the deceased are the only ones who can request for the certificate. The one who request for the record would be asked to present proof of identification. The death certificate would be released after several weeks from the date it has been filed.

The Department of Health Services under the Vital Records Section manages the death records in the state of Virginia. One can also go to the county where the person died and request it from the office of the county clerk. The public library can also help in providing information about the death of an individual through its newspaper collection. One can find information about the death of an individual by checking out the obituary death notices of the local newspaper. The internet is also one source to obtain information about an individual's death.

The Internet now has online obituary death notices. Integrating the public documents with the Internet has made the retrieval of the death record faster and efficient. The search can even be done for free. Quality results are obtained when going for a paid search because of the results are more accurate and complete compared to a free search.




About the Author: