Spirit Ronbo

How Many Death Certificates Does a Dead Dad Need?

Take a guess and then see if you’re right.

Photo by Europeana on Unsplash

We made two calls to the funeral home the day my father died. The first happened after the doctor pulled us aside as my 93-year-old father was actively dying. “You should call a funeral home soon,” Dr. M. told us.

A few days earlier, my father had indicated the funeral home he wanted us to use, so my brother and I headed to the waiting room outside the ICU, huddled around the phone, and made the call. We got an answering service. It was early afternoon on a Saturday. But the answering service told us that someone from the funeral home would call us right back.

Someone did indeed call right back — an assistant who got our information, my father’s info, and the hospital’s name. She said she would send us a worksheet (which is exactly what a grieving and stressed-out family wants to hear, let me tell you) and that we should call them back after my dad died, which he did later that night.

When I called the funeral home to alert them about my father’s death, I was connected with the funeral director. She talked fast. Like, wicked fast. Not impatiently — when I asked questions, she answered them — but I was having a hard time keeping up.

I got the broad strokes, and I knew I had the worksheet since I’d seen it in my inbox. I figured it would have all the information I needed. It didn’t. I fumbled through it as best I could, getting annoyed every time I had to fill in a blank, which was indicated by a long underline. As I filled it in, the underline got pushed out, and all the spacing turned funky.

I know, I know. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

But at the very end of this worksheet, there was a question in all caps: NUMBER OF CERTIFIED DEATH CERTIFICATES NEEDED

No context, no “here’s a good rule of thumb,” no link to an article for further reading.

For the folks running the funeral home, this question is a cup of coffee to them, meaning it’s so basic and so obvious to them that it’s easy to forget that they’re often dealing with first-timers. I’ve been to dozens and dozens of funerals in my life (my first was at age seven — shout-out to Great Uncle Norman).

But this was the first funeral that I was in charge of spearheading. As a newbie, I pondered the question about the number of death certificates and came up with what I thought was a reasonable answer: Probably one copy — and maybe a backup.

It made sense to me at the time. I mean, how many death certificates does a dead dad need? He only had one birth certificate, filed away safely in a fireproof box along with other important legal documents.

The next day, I went over the answers on the worksheet with one of my brothers and shared my rationale for how many death certificates we should order. But I was feeling unsure if my thinking was correct. He had no idea either, so he texted his wife, whose parents had both died in the last five years, while I decided to consult the interwebs and AI.

Turns out you definitely need more than one or two certified death certificates, and here’s why.

You need them to settle critical estate details, like closing accounts on the deceased’s behalf (provided you have the authority to do so — different topic for a different time).

For example, we had to send my father’s death certificate to his pension provider so that A) they knew he had died and B) they could recalculate the proper remaining pension for my mom.

We needed the death certificate to sell his car since my mom’s name wasn’t on the title.

We needed a death certificate so that I could have his mail forwarded to my mom when she moved into an assisted living community.

A death certificate can even help you **memorialize or remove a deceased person’s account on Facebook**

We ended up asking for 15. We knew it was likely overkill, but it felt like a good number, given the number of accounts in my dad’s name. And yes, you can always order more from your town or city clerk or through your state’s registry of vital records and statistics, but that takes time and costs more money.

The funeral home charged us $15 per certificate — there was no markup; this is what the town charges. (The funeral home charges for its overall services, so no doubt, this task is figured into that fee.)

So, how many death certificates should you order for a loved one?

Your mileage will vary, depending on the complexity of the person’s estate. Ordering a few more than you think you’ll need is wise since unexpected things can come up (like a forgotten life insurance policy or bank account).

For some accounts, scanning and emailing a copy of the death certificate will suffice as proof. Others will require original copies. For example, the real estate attorney needed to record a certified copy of the death certificate as part of the steps for the sale of my mother’s house (which my mom jointly owned with my dad).

Here’s a short list to think about when figuring out how many death certificates to order.

I’ve listed things in alphabetical order for easier skimming:

• Banks
• Life insurance policies
• Pensions
• Probate court
• Real estate
• Retirement accounts
• Social Security Administration (note: if you’re working with a funeral home, they typically notify the SSA, and the SSA typically notifies Medicare)
• Vehicle titles

For small estates (maybe just one bank account, one life insurance policy, one car, one retirement account), figure 5–7. For a mid-size estate (multiples on bank accounts and retirement accounts, plus the other stuff), figure 8–10. For complex estates (even more multiples of the above, plus multiple real estate properties), figure 15+.

And again, you can always order more if you need them.

Hope this helps.

Note: If there are any other critical accounts you’d include in the bulleted list above, share in the comments, and I’ll update the post.