I cannot figure out where to put this, but here goes.
Mom passed on July 15, 2009 and I still do not have a death certificate. Cashing in her life ins. policy can't be done without it. I put the funeral on my card and first payment is due.
Nursing home lost the first one. Then doc went on vacation. Then doc went on vacation again. Then medical director's wife had baby so he went. Hospice doc won't sign, they never saw her. Medical director might be back in a few days, but I have been told that about one doc or another for weeks.
Talked to the director of the n.h. and to the funeral home. F. H. is trying to get doc's other doc in his office to sign. and on and on.
Any ideas?
Athyca

Is there a typo or was the date of death 7/15/09? If 7/15/09, I don't consider a week a very long wait for a DC. If this is a typo, it sounds like one DC has already been issued, and you just need to get a certified copy of it. In many places, you can work through the funeral home to have them order more copies of the DC. Or, call the county records dept and order another copy. (You may have to pre-pay.)

I've got copies of Death Certificates from our local town hall, same as getting copies of birth Certificates. At the time it was $5.00 w/town stamp. Gerry

Sorry, she passed on June 15th, 2009 not july. No death certificate has been filed yet because the doc hasn't filled out his part with cause of death etc. So the county doesn't have it yet.
Any ideas?
Athyca

I'd call the social worker at the nursing home, and tell her the importance to you of getting this DC.

Its a shame the Funeral Director couldn't have handled all this for you, you have enough on your mind and heart with losing your Mom. I guess I was a lucky in the fact I didn't have to put out any monies at all, I didn't even recieve a bill until it was paid in full. I hope this gets resolved soon for you!

Perhaps a call to you local medical society is in order or your state's department for consumer concerns. This is an extremely irresponsible way for this situation to be handled by the physician as well as the nursing home. I'm surprised something wasn't done before the funeral. In my experience, nothing can/should proceed (like releasing the deceased to the funeral home) without a fully completed death certificate. It is after all a legal document. Just my 2 cents. Dee

I agree with Dee. I believe the certificate must be signed prior to the funeral director proceeding. Perhaps a call to the coroners office.

Okay, this is my second attempt to post...(S)
Hi everyone,
I wanted to bring you up to date on my success in obtaining a death certificate. Although I think it helped that I built up to having about six people from different agencies calling the docs office and the nursing home director each day, the best help came from the Supervisor of Vital Records of the county Probate Court. She really turned up the heat on them. Still I had to wait til the doc came back from his month long vacation on july 31st. Then the funeral home took the certificate to the doc then to the court to be filed then called me and asked if they could bring my notarized copies to my house. Of course, I said Yes!!! The law has no punishment indicated for people who don't sign the death certificate in 72 hours. (Allowance for people like Michael Jackson where there is an ongoing investigation into the cause of death). But I am going to file a complaint with the AMA. And I am going to contact my state representatives to see if they would submit a bill that would put some teeth into the law. I'll let you know if I get anywhere with this.
Someone suggested that the body shouldn't be taken by the funeral home until the certificate is signed, but that might cause some trouble here since he was not there when she died, and his office says he tries (notice tries) to get them signed within a week.
My love to you all
Athyca

Good going!

Alyce: I hope that you are doing well during this time. We've had some other not so good things going on here & it good to hear your update.

So glad this is resolved for you & also that you are going to pursue the fiasco. Even tho' the dr. isn't there when the patient dies, there should be policies in place to get the certificate signed post haste. Out in the sticks where I've worked, the funeral directors would usually go to the physicians offfice or home to get the signature & today with faxes just about everywhere some arrangements could be made if the dr. is away. I'm sorry to go on, but I get terribly annoyed about stuff like this. Families are in the throes of terrible grief & don't need another problem to deal with. Some so-called medical professionls (not always doctors) are almost cavalier in their attitudes. Thanks for listening. Dee

Oops, sorry Athyca to misspell you name. Dee