Video Summary
How do I obtain a death certificate? The easiest way to do is to order it at the time of death from the funeral home and they will supply you with death certificates. It’s usually whoever’s paying for the funeral. They ask them how many death certificates they want a Florida resident. There are two forms of the death certificate. One is what they call a short form, which is on a shorter piece of paper, which does not show the cause of death or the complete social security number. The other one is called the long form, which is on legal size paper and does show the social security number and the cause of death. You can obtain the short form death certificate. If you don’t do it through the Secretary of State, you can make application to the state. I’m not sure whether it’s through the Bureau of Vital Statistics or just whom you make that application to obtain that you’ll have a more difficult time getting one with the cause of death and the social security number. An attorney can assist as far as obtaining these death certificates, and they simply need to indicate the purpose of obtaining these death certificates in Florida in other states. I’ve found it almost impossible to get copies of death certificates. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.