Is it possible to get a online viewing of a deceased persons death certificate ?

Question:My sons father was killed in a shooting a few years back and although i know his cause of death was shooting i was always curious as to the details of his actual death .I dont really maintain contact with his family and just feel strange asking if i did ? Any info is appreciated ..thanks !!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My sons father was killed in a shooting a few years back and although i know his cause of death was shooting i was always curious as to the details of his actual death .I dont really maintain contact with his family and just feel strange asking if i did ? Any info is appreciated ..thanks !!

Yes, a couple of states do have this, but not for recent years.

The Genealogy Roots Blog has this:

Here is a list of some currently available or forthcoming collections of online digitized death certificates (some are free, some fee-based).

Arizona
Arizona Death Certificates 1878-1956 (free) also includes birth certificates 1887-1931

Georgia
Georgia Death Certificates 1919-1927 (free)

Illinois: Chicago and Cook County (forthcoming)
The Cook County Clerk's office has been digitizing their birth, marriage and death certificates with plans to put these online, possibly in June or July, 2008. This will be for birth certificates more than 75 years old, marriage certificates more than 50 years old, and death certificates more than 20 years old. The records will go back as far as 1871 -- earlier records were lost in the Chicago Fire. For now you can see some indexes that are available at: Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Kentucky
As part of their subscription-based collection of genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1953. See: Online Kentucky Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Missouri (ongoing project)
The Missouri State Archives has been adding death certificates to their website for the period of 1910-1956. The years 1940-1944 are not yet available, but should be added over the next few months. Missouri Death Certificates (free)

Ohio (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Ohio death certificates from 1908-1953. These will hopefully be available to a wider audience on the new FamilySearch website sometime soon. They can be searched now with registration and a waiting period. (free)

Texas (ongoing project)
Footnote has been scanning Texas death certificates and adding them to their website. They presently have over 200,000 death certificates available, mostly from 1902-1917 with more being added. You can download a copy of a single death certificate from Footnote for just $1.95 (price subject to change) -- the Texas Department of Health charges $20 for a mail order copy. Or you can buy a monthly or yearly subscription to Footnote's collection of historical records. See: Texas Death Certificates at Footnote

Utah
Utah Death Certificates 1905-1956 (free)

West Virginia
West Virginia Death Certificates 1917-1957 (free) has earlier records for some counties - also has birth and marriage records for some counties

Try the website for the funeral home that took care of the body, they might have it on file

Here in the UK it is a definite no. Your son could apply to get his dads death certificate, or you could ask the family, but I think I would feel uncomfortable about that myself if I were in your position. This kind of information is classed as private. Hope this helps.

An obituary might provide the information. If it was due to suicide, homicide or an accident there might be some news article.

I don't know how old your son is but he can order a death certificate on his father. You probably can't. I know in Texas a person who is not immediate family has to wait 25 years after a death. Different states have different laws regarding this.

Another souce are the message boards that Rootsweb have. There is a thing called RAOGK, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. If you request obituary information or other information on him you someone might help. Here is a link to Rootsweb

http://www.rootsweb.com/

Select message board at the top and then you will select your country. If you are in the U. S., you should next select the state and then the county. When you put a message on the Rootsweb board, it will show up on the Ancestry.Com board also.

No. Generally, birth, marriage, and death certificates are under the jurisdiction of each state's Dept. of Vital Statistics, and they do not put them on-line. You would have to complete a form requesting a copy of it, show that you are entitled to it (i.e. by being the parent, child, grandchild, legal guardian to the individual in question), and pay a small fee for them to research the records to find the certificate and provide you a copy of it.