[kccdcborn]

Hi,

I am trying to get info. for a friend who has found out her birthmother died in South Carolina. He has tried to get a death certificate from the county of death but they(SC) require it to be a immediate family member. He was afraid to complete the paperwork for fear the county would contact the living family members. Does anyone have any experience with getting a SC death certificate? Any problems or suggestions for getting this information would be greatly appreciated. Please respond with ANY information! Thanks.

[chris1965]

I managed to get both my birth father's and birth grandfather's death certificates. One in Okla and the other in Calif. I even managed to get some basic military information from when my bdad was in the Air Force and I didn't have to fib about being "next of kin" on any of the applications. As long as you have the full name and the date of death of the deceased, your friend really shouldn't have a problem. I know with Indenity Theft being a big concern now, many states are paying much closer attention to requests for birth cetificates but DCs are commonly requested for genalogical reasons and that was the reason I noted on the applications I sent, even for the militrary request. I'd have your friend try and get a DC from the State rather than the County.

[kccdcborn]

Chris1965-
Thanks for your comments. I also have been able to get death certificates from some of my birthfamily members. It sounded like SC had some different requirements than other states. I have been able to get death certificates from NC without stating my intent. My friend said the person at the SC county office said "you must be an immediate family member". He was concerned that family members might be contacted about this request. You mentioned going throught the state level as opposed to the county level...do you think that would be better?

If anyone has had ANY experience with trying to get death (or any other type of dcument) from SC, please respond!

[chris1965]

I just checked out the application for a DC form online on the actual SC vital records site. There are three options to check 1). next of kin 2). legal rep 3). other. I'd check other but in the reason asked below write "family member for genealogical research". Don't try the County but use the state form (it's in PDF format) and go through the state's vital records office.

Tell your friend to not to sweat it. It's just a routine request and no doubt the vital records office processes hundreds of these a day and his/hers won't stick out anymore than the others.