Somewhat off-topic but urgent: getting a death certificate

[Ilya Z.]

I apologize in advance for this post being somewhat off-topic, since it's only tangentially related to RE investments. Our friend died suddenly leaving behind wife and two children. Their financial situation was a not that great when he was alive but now things got worse. One additional complication is that the widow has not been able to get a death certificate for close to a month. Without it she can't take possession of his various property including a rental condo. She lives in Baltimore County and apparently things are stuck at the county medical examiner's office. They cannot decide what to put as the cause of death, and he was buried 3 weeks ago without an autopsy (the cause of death was 100% natural, although he was not in the best of health). Every time she calls, she gets "you'll get it in a few days, don't worry". Is there a way to force them to produce the death certificate ASAP? Should she threaten legal action? Say certain "key phrases" that will force them to do their job? Any advice will be much appreciated!