The death certificate is one of the most important documents that any person could require on behalf of a deceased friend or relative. It establishes the fact of death fairly and is one of the most applicable documents for relieving the person who passed away from social, legal and sanctioned scores.
Other than the usual and regular benefits, the death certificate is also used to enable settlement of property inheritance, and authorise the family to collect insurance and various other advantages, if they were in line to receive any of them on behalf of the deceased. In some instances, the death certificate might is needed to coordinate the last rites of the deceased individuals. Overall, there should be no doubt about the death of the individual, and that means that if there was any foul play, the police should handle the investigation, and after being done, they would give this information to produce the death certificate.
Some of the documents required to when applying for a death certificate are :-
- Proof of birth of the deceased
- An affidavit that specifying the date and time of death
- A copy of the ration card
- The person who is applying for a death certificate has to provide evidence of their relationship with the deceased, which could also include their complete address and proof of nationality.
Applicants can collect their application forms to apply for a death certificate from their local body authorities and the Registrar who maintains the Register of Deaths. Substantiation of death is needed either in the form of a sanitarium letter, where the death took place, or a certificate from a civil functionary, who certified the death at either the crematorium or burial grounds.
The death of any individual should be first registered with the concerned local authorities within 21 days of its occurrence, by filling up the form prescribed by the Registrar, to apply for a Death Certificate. They issue the Death Certificate after the proper verification, which in most cases is handled by a medical professional.
While this process might be challenging in most cases, since it does need some coordination and travel, with the right documents and forms, that they have to fill out correctly. The death of a near relative can be quite challenging and different people relate to it differently, so it only made sense to create a system that is more user friendly and allows people to handle the process at their convenience. To make this process easier, the entire death certificate process can now be handled online. This major change allowed people who were generally coordinating this process in person, to now go through it at their convenience from home without too much trouble. Furthermore, there is a vast collection of information available on their website, and people can get all the information they need without having to travel to the office which could take longer and sometimes be quite time-consuming.
