Request For A Certified Copy Of A Death Certificate: Fill & Download for Free

When my wife died, I was the executor of her estate. On the advice of an attorney, I closed all of my wife’s asset accounts (checking, savings, various investment accounts), as well as any joint asset accounts. The monies in our joint accounts were transferred to new accounts solely in my name, and the monies in her individual accounts were transferred into accounts in the name of her estate.I contacted our joint creditors, and had her name removed from those accounts, and I contacted creditors of hers alone to close those accounts, and settle them with funds from the estate. With so much to do, I didn’t even bother with accounts that were at zero that I didn’t know of any recurring charges that would go to them. Those included “store” accounts that may have been used to make relatively big purchases that had been paid-off years ago, but there was also one Visa card that I didn’t bother with.About six months after she had passed, I got a bill for an annual fee for that Visa card. It never occurred to me that this might happen. Past statements never showed an annual fee. But apparently she had previously qualified to have the annual fee waived due to other accounts and/or activity with that bank.I called them up to inform them of the issue, and noted that they already had a copy of her death certificate on-file from when I closed another account with them. They were very happy to waive the charge, to bring the amount back to zero because she had never not qualified for a waiver before, but before they closed the account, they would need a “certified copy” of the death certificate.A copy of the death certificate is easy. Just run it through any copy machine. Costs about a dime, and whatever time it takes to get to, and use a copy machine, and there were copy machines both at my job, and at the grocery store. But a certified copy comes from the county clerk, costs real money, requires forms, and takes time to get. Six months earlier, I had requested all that I needed at one time, and I didn’t want to spend the money, or take the time to get another copy for a bank that already had one on-file.I told them that, and they said that they didn’t have one on-file, and if I didn’t provide them with one, my wife’s account could not be closed, and (…wait for it…) that would adversely affect her credit score, and her ability to get credit in the future. Seriously. They threatened to ruin a dead woman’s credit score!I laughed at the CSR, and asked to speak to her supervisor. And the supervisor told me the same thing!So I told the supervisor that I had already spent more time than I had to on this issue, and they were more than welcome to continue to try to get money from a dead woman for as long as they wanted to, and that they should have fun doing so, and maybe next time, if I feel like spending any amount of time dealing with a bill from them, I might just call a TV station that might enjoy such an absurd story.I never got another bill from them. And even if I had, what difference would it have made? They had no claim against the estate for debt transactions that occurred after her death. And they had no claim against me, or any other heir because they simply weren’t our debts.So let them know that they can continue to bill a dead person, but they’re never going to be able to collect. And the sooner they realize that, the less crap they’ll have to clean-up in their accounting system.Edit: I’m turning off comments because too many people are replying to the original question, instead of commenting on this answer.

In Colorado, a notary cannot make a copy of a vital record such as a birth or death certificate, marriage or divorce certificate. You would request a certified copy from the document custodian such as the department of vital records.A Colorado notary can make a certified copy of an original document only.In some states, notaries are authorized to perform marriages: Florida, Maine, South Carolina, and Nevada.I have notarized an Affidavit of Common Law Marriage.

Notary laws vary by state and country.In some states, a notary may make a certified copy of an original document, but not a vital record such as a birth or death certificate, or marriage or divorce certificate. To prevent fraud, a notary cannot make a certified copy of a copy.If you need a certified copy of a marriage certificate, request it from the agency that keeps marriage records where you were married.If it is in a foreign language, find out if the recipient needs it translated into another language.Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and this information is not legal advice.