Purpose of Birth & Death Certificates

Though you may not be likely to forget the day a loved one was born or died, keeping a birth or death certificate is required for completing certain legal procedures.

Ordering Birth Certificates

• Birth certificates are processed by each state's office of vital records. The procedure for procuring them varies among states. In Oregon, for example, you can request one by phone of fax, but in Pennsylvania you cannot.

Purpose of Birth Certificates

• Birth certificates are necessary for matters of legal record, such as obtaining a passport or driver's license or signing up a child for public school. They may also be used for collecting data on newborns, registering for Social Security, employment checks, and registering to play youth sports.

Birth Certificate Fraud

• Birth certificates are also used as records of nationality, making fraudulent certificates a commodity for illegal immigrants.

Death Certificates

• Death certificates are made official either by an attending physician or a coroner. To avoid fraud, insurance companies require official copies before paying out life insurance policies. Death certificates, which are typically filed with the local or state government, may be used to detect Social Security fraud; they are evidence that any benefits still being paid out are being fraudulently collected.

Benefits for Surviving Children

• Death certificates can yield Social Security benefits for the deceased's children. The Social Security office requires an official death certificate before paying benefits to the deceased's child survivors.