How to Find Out When a Person Died
Even though birth and death come to pass as momentous points in life, sometimes we need to search for the details surrounding these events when they involve other people. When it comes to genealogical research, fact-finding or crime-solving missions, you often must find the exact date of death. You can conduct this research in several manners, depending upon whether you need certification proclaiming the date of death or just the knowledge.
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Instructions
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Department of Vital Records
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Visit the website of the Department of Vital Records at www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm. Click on the state where you think the death occurred.
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Enclose a check or money order made payable to the Office of Vital Records in a stamped envelope. Address the envelope to the location of the office specified for the state in which the person died.
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Write essential information on a piece of paper and enclose it in the envelope. You will need the full name of the person whose record you are requesting, the gender and parents' names, including maiden name of the mother. Add the place of death (city or town, county and state).
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Explain why you need a copy of the death certificate and your relationship to the person whose record you're seeking. Add your daytime telephone number with area code and the approximate month, day and year you think the person died. If you're not sure, explain that you don't know the day of death.
Other Tactics
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Contact your county coroner's office if the death of the person was sudden, unusual or violent. Give the name of the person. They might provide you with the date of death over the phone or ask you to come in person to look at the records.
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Visit www.legacy.com/NS/ and do an obituary search on the right-hand side of the page. Simply type in the first and last name of the person.
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Type in the approximate year they died (optional) and click "Search." It helps if you know the area where this person died, particularly if they have a common name, though it's not necessary.
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