Thursday, August 1, 2013

Texas Death Records Available Online

By Claire Dowell


Texas Death Records are maintained by the state's central repository of public records which is at the Texas Vital Statistics Office, Department of State Health Services. They are also maintained at a country registrar's office because that is where they are initially recorded. The Vital Statistics Office maintains death records dating as far back as 1903. For records prior to that year, they are only available at the specific country registrar's office.

Death documents have to exist at least 25 years before they are considered as public documents. And as part of public documents, any member of the public has the right to access them as long as they have the consent of the people, through a notarized statement, that have direct access to them such as family members. However, documents that have not reached 25 years are only accessible by the direct relatives of the dead person or anyone that has the consent from the court. If it has not reached 90 days after the person has died, a document may not be available for request yet.

If you want to request death documents, there is a request form at the Vital Statistics Office. If you cannot head to the office, you may download it from their website as well. For every request submitted, a fee of $22 will be charged to you and you can pay it through check, money order, or cash. If you want to mail your request, you may do so and you will be charged $20 for it. If you personally submit your request at the office, there is a possibility that will get the files on that same day or a few days maximum. For mailed requests, the return period is 6 to 8 weeks and will only be lessened if you pay additional fees. In addition, there are no refunds given to clients even if the files are not located.

When making a request, it is crucial to supply as much details about the document. The more details are supplied, the better the chances are of locating the right document. If the exact year of the document is unknown, an estimate of years should be included so the process does not become that long. Vital details that are required to be supplied include the name of the dead person, date and location where the person died, birth date, and more.

Nowadays, public records can also be retrieved from private service providers. They have authorization from the court to provide them to the public. They are either for free or they render a certain amount of fee for their service. There are a number of service providers available on the Internet and it is just a matter of finding the right one that suits your search needs. However, be aware that there are fake service providers out there. Do a background check on them before deciding which one to use.

Websites that offer a Death Search are steadily gaining popularity because the process of getting the records is easy and not time-consuming. All that is needed to begin a search are a computer, connectivity to the Web, and knowledge of the full name of the deceased. Results are provided quickly in no time at all. With this kind of method, searching for the files can be done no matter where you are.




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