Death Records Now

My mother-in-law misinformed the funeral home by stating on my husband’s death certificate that we was divorced. We are not on the best of terms and she refuses to go to the funeral home and sign a request to amend the death certificate. She is doing this out of spite because my husband and I were separated (he was a violent and abusive alcoholic). and he was living with her at the time of his death. I am sorry, but my son’s safety was my #1 priority. It was not a healthy environment for either my son or myself.

I was just contacted by the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Insurance Dept. that they are holding money that I am entitled to claim as his surviving spouse. Unfortunately, I need to get the death certificate amended to reflect that we were married at the time of his death. The Office of Vital Records suggested that I contact the court and request a certified copy of a court order establishing our marital status at the time of my husband’s death. It also said that I may want to contact an attorney. Unfortunately, I am a disabled widow on SSI and can’t afford to pay an attorney for advice. I’m sure that once I know where to go and what to do that I can fill out and file the necessary documents.

Please help me with as much information as possible to enable me to complete this task without the need for a lawyer. I live in Porterville, California and need to know which court to contact to accomplish this task.

Thanking you in advance for your most valuable time and assistance.

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/Pages/CorrectingorAmendingVitalRecords.aspx
1-800-735-2922
1-888-877-5379

My Grandmother died in 1949 in Los Angeles California. I looked on the California and Los Angeles County records website to see if I can order her Death Certificate as part of a geneology project but it says 1995 to present deaths only. I went to rootsweb and got her SSN#, but not sure if its correct. Where else can I look?

This link is to the California Death Index. Enter her first name, her married surname and the death year. The results should give you her date of birth/death, her maiden name and her mother’s maiden name http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi

For death certificates, you find more information about how to order copies for deaths between 1905 – present at this link http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/Pages/default.aspx