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Updated over 5 years ago, 04/07/2019
Somewhat off-topic but urgent: getting a death certificate
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!
Get a probate lawyer. You are fighting with government which can take time.
#3 Managing Your Property Contributor
She should be able to get a copy from the funeral home. My granny passed away just over a month ago and the funeral home was able to get copies for us in a day or two of her passing.
Originally posted by @Theresa Harris:
She should be able to get a copy from the funeral home. My granny passed away just over a month ago and the funeral home was able to get copies for us in a day or two of her passing.
Thanks. But would the fn get the cert from the same place she's trying to get it from? In which case is the advantage that they have lot of experience dealing with such cases?
Originally posted by @Sam Shueh:
Get a probate lawyer. You are fighting with government which can take time.
We're trying to make it Plan B, at least for now, since cost is a big factor.
I like what @Theresa Harris suggested.
They have contacts there and deal with them daily. They talk daily, get that person in your corner that they work with.
- Mike Cumbie
@Ilya Z. I’m a licensed funeral director and yes, you can get the death certificates from the funeral home (who get them from the ME’s office) or directory from the medical examiner’s office, but if the medical examiner’s office decided to do a medical review with no autopsy, it could take anywhere from a few days to a few months. Do you know if they did any toxicology screenings? Those screenings can take anywhere from 8 weeks to 16 weeks. So it’s just a waiting game if they haven’t received them. They are at the mercy of the lab doing the testing. And you can’t rush the ME’s office. If you get a lawyer, they may or may not be able to help, so good luck.
#3 Managing Your Property Contributor
@Ilya Z. They should have more contacts and be able to get it. The fact that he's been buried means there is enough time for them to have issued the death certificate. The death certificate doesn't need to list the cause of death.
Tell her to be persistent, explain the situation and that it has already been a month. If the say don't worry, her reply should be that telling her not to worry doesn't help as she is worried as she has a lot to do. As bad as this sounds, if she gets upset and cries, it might help.
as a physician it's our job to fill it out. I get calls when one of my veterans dies, as I work at a VA hospital to sign the death certificate all the time. It really should be no problem for his primary care physician to sign it. Unless there are really weird cicrcumstances about his death. I couldn't really ever dream why someone wouldn't sign for this.
Originally posted by @Edward Kanive:
as a physician it's our job to fill it out. I get calls when one of my veterans dies, as I work at a VA hospital to sign the death certificate all the time. It really should be no problem for his primary care physician to sign it. Unless there are really weird cicrcumstances about his death. I couldn't really ever dream why someone wouldn't sign for this.
Apparently two different doctors at the hospital where he was brought (DOA) gave very different and outright bizarre responses when asked by the wife about cause of death. Not sure if this has anything to do with the delay.