1. (1) Prior to applying for registration of a delayed certificate of death for an individual who died in this state, the applicant must have requested a search for the death certificate and received a statement from the State Registrar that the death is not on file in the Center for Health Statistics.
2. (2) If a death certificate has not been filed within the time period required in Code of Ala. 1975, §22-9A-14, it shall be filed as prescribed in Code of Ala. 1975, §22-9A-15(a)(1).

3. (3) If the death certificate has not been filed within the time period required in Code of Ala. 1975, §22-9A-14, and the persons specified in Code of Ala. 1975, §22-9A-15(a)(1), are not available to sign the death certificate, it may be filed by the next of kin as specified in Code of Ala. 1975, §22-9A-15(a)(2). The documents required by Code of Ala. 1975, §22-9A-15(a)(2)b, must be contemporaneous writings from original sources that clearly identify the decedent and his or her date and place of death and contain sufficient information to identify when the documents were created. Such documents may include but are not limited to:

   1. (a) Funeral home records;
   2. (b) Hospital records;
   3. (c) Cemetery records;
   4. (d) Newspaper obituaries; or
   5. (e) Other reliable and probative documents created at the time of death that are acceptable to the State Registrar.

Author: Dorothy Harshbarger

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§22-9A-2, 22-9A-14, 22-9A-15.

History: Filed June 21, 1990. Repealed and New Rule: Filed June 20, 2007; effective July 25, 2007.