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

wall with a darn ad selling peoplesearch crap. I know there has to be some way to access public death records by city, county, name, birthday, or SOMEWAY without having to pay someone. PLEEEEASE HEEELP!!!!!

I can help, but what is needed, is a reality check.
First.. an obituary is NOT a public record, nor is it free. It is a paid announcement in a newspaper. Many persons don’t have obits (their families choose not to place one). Many newspapers choose to not be online.
A death certificate is defined as a public record.. which does NOT mean that there are no restrictions on those. Many states LIMIT access to the death certificates to immediate family, or do not allow them to be accessed for 50-75 yrs. Death certificates are controlled by the state vital records offices. When thinking in terms of county based records.. nothing anywhere is an obligation that they be online.
If you go to www.rootsweb.com, you WILL find that they offer (free) the social security death index. What it is, is VERY specific.. it is an index ONLY, and it only covers deaths in the US since about 1960ish. Earlier records do exist for ssi.. they simply are not computerized.
If you are researching family history, this is important to remember. The internet is a massive collection of information. It does NOT have everything you might want. Ancestry.com does have many records that you will not find elsewhere, for the simple reason that they are in business to sell service. Meaning access to certain records that are not otherwise available. You might find them free by going in person (which may mean across the country), so the service is completely legitimate.

there was 1 newpaper article of when body was found and the ssi index shows the death with most details missing. cant find any obituary or any arrest record. not even coroner report. its like it never reallly happened. it was a brutal homicide.

after you go to the l library and look in the newspaper archives, copy the name of the officers, and call that police stations general line and ask how you can buy a police report (that is if its not a cold case.)