North Dakota Death Records

Are Death Certificates Public in North Dakota?

Per North Dakota Statistics Act § 23-02.1-27, vital (birth, death, marriage, and divorce) records are confidential. Thus, certified copies of death certificates are only accessible to authorized individuals. Informational death records, on the other hand, are accessible to the general public. Under the act, authorized individuals include and are not limited to the decedent’s spouse, birth parents, and authorized legal representatives.

The information they contain and their intended uses are the two main distinctions between informational and certified North Dakota death certificates. Only certified North Dakota death certificates may be utilized for legal purposes in the state. On the other hand, informational copies are strictly used for informative purposes such as satisfying one’s curiosity. informational copies of death certificates also do not contain the decedents' social security numbers and cause of death.

The North Dakota Division of Vital Records is the state's custodian for death records. Death records and other vital records, such as birth records can be obtained through the division. Inquirers can use the division death index portal to search public death records.

What Shows Up on Death Records in North Dakota?

A North Dakota death record provides information about a death that occurred within the state's jurisdiction. According to the North Dakota Century Code Section 23.0.1-19, the state funeral director, responsible for filing the facts of death information, collects the same from the decedent’s next of kin, the best-qualified individual, or any other credible source. The state funeral director files the facts of the death with the state registrar not later than three days after taking custody of the dead body. Complete registration and issuance of death record copies are completed by the North Dakota State Department of Health, which maintains all North Dakota vital records.

A North Dakota death certificate contains the following information:

• Deceased’s full name
• Age at the time of death
• Cause of death
• Date and place of birth
• Date of burial and location
• The exact time of death
• Marital status at the time of death
• Maiden name (if the deceased was a married woman)
• Name of surviving spouse
• Names of parents
• Occupation
• Home address
• Religious Affiliation (if any)
• Signature of attending physician

According to a report by the National Committee on Vital Health and Statistics (NCVHS), individuals, private institutions, and the Federal, State, and Local governments use death certificates for key purposes.

• Individuals or Family
• Families of the decedent and other legally qualified individuals use death certificates to authenticate the facts of death for administrative and legal uses.
• Private Institutions
• Private Financial Institutions use death certificates to verify the legitimate owner of financial assets such as loans, deposits, and investments.
• Death certificates are used to verify facts of deaths to pay benefits.
• Assets and Property Management Institutions use records of death to determine rightful property owners and register the same in land records.
• Death records assist insurance companies in identifying insured decedents to provide due benefits to rightful beneficiaries in compliance with applicable laws of the state.
• Death certificates are used to identify subjects of health studies who have died.
• Death records are also used for Genealogical research purposes.
• Federal Government
• Federal government agencies use death records for federal administrative purposes.
• Death records assist in determining facts of death for payment of death benefit, terminate workers’ compensation, retirement payments, disability payments, unemployment benefits, pensions, or similar benefit arrangements.
• The federal government uses death records to stop, redirect, or change the structure of Social Security payments or similar benefits.
• The federal government also uses death records to verify the identity of decedents to prevent tax fraud.
• Records of death help the federal government to identify deceased subjects of health studies.
• State and Local Governments
• State and local government agencies use death records to efficiently carry out state and local administrative duties.
• State and local governments use death certificates to determine payment of death benefits.

The state and local governments are able to terminate disability payments, unemployment payments, workers’ compensation, retirement payments, and other similar payment arrangements.

How are Death Records Created in North Dakota?

The process of creating a death record usually begins from the documentation of the event with the State Registrar to certification and completion by the State Department of Health. A funeral director will need to obtain the facts about the event from either a next of kin or any other qualified and reliable source available.

Under the law, the funeral director must file facts of the death within three days after assuming custody of the dead body. The funeral director would also obtain the medical certification of death from the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner that coordinated the patient’s care process for the condition that led to the demise of the record's subject. Any of these professionals are to complete the medical certification within ten days after death.

In a case where an individual died in the absence of medical attendance, the county coroner in the county where the death occurred will investigate the cause of death and review the deceased's medical history. The county coroner may also obtain information from the last known physician to have attended to the deceased person.

After gathering accurate information, the county coroner will send the record to the State Registrar for filing. After this, the State Department of Health certifies the record and makes copies available to eligible parties.

How to Find Death Records Online in North Dakota

In North Dakota, interested parties can look up death records by conducting a record search on the State’s Public Death Index. To carry out a search, a user must provide the last name and date of death of the subject of the search. If the record is not found in the index, the user will have the option of purchasing the certified copy of the death record via the online order portal.

To obtain death certificates via the online order portal, the record seeker will need to create an account using a valid email and provide a password. After successful registration, the individual will need to complete an order form to request copies of a death certificate and provide payment information.

As a measure of preventing fraud, the index does not list deaths within the last 12 months.

Considered open to citizens of the United States, public records are available through both traditional, government sources, and through third-party websites and organizations. In many cases, third-party websites make the search easier as they are not limited geographically or by technological limitations. They are considered a good place to start when looking for a specific record or multiple records. In order to gain access to these records, interested parties must typically provide:

• The name of the person listed in the record. Juveniles are typically exempt from this search method.
• The last known or assumed location of the person listed in the record. This includes cities, counties, and states.

While third-party sites offer such services, they are not government sponsored entities, and record availability may vary on these sites when compared to government sources.

Death Record Search by Name in North Dakota

Interested persons can conduct death record searches by name in North Dakota by using the public death index maintained by the state Department of Health Division of Vital Records. The only search criteria required on the index to search for death records is a decedent's last name and a time frame for their date of death.

Death Record Search by Address

If a decedent county of death is known, interested persons can search for their death records by address on the death records portal maintained by the North Dakota Historical Society. To conduct this type of death record search, the inquirer can select a county from the list of search options provided on the portal. Selecting a particular county would return results of all deaths recorded in that specific county.

How to Find Death Records for Free in North Dakota

People can find death records for free by utilizing the search tool on the Public Death Index of the North Dakota State Department of Health. Record seekers are only required to provide the last name and death date of the deceased. Other information like the subject’s first name and the location of death is optional. However, the index does not include records of events that occurred within the last twelve months.

How to Obtain Death Records in North Dakota

To obtain a death record in North Dakota, the record seeker will need to query the North Dakota State Department of Health, Vital Records Division. There are three ways to apply for a death record:

By mail: The requesting party should submit a completed Death Request Application Form, a check or money order payable to the North Dakota Department of Health, and a valid form of identification to:

Division of Vital Records
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Department 301
Bismarck, ND 58505

In-person: A record seeker can visit the Vital Records Office from 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Monday through Friday. The requester must bring along a valid means of identification and the required fee. The Vital Records Office is at:

Room 118
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0200

Online: To obtain death certificates via the online order portal, the record seeker will need to create an account using a valid email and provide a password. After successful registration, the individual shall complete an order form to request copies of a death certificate and provide payment information.

Death records are also available by contacting the Clerk at the county where the event occurred. The funeral home where the deceased was laid to rest may also provide informational copies of a death certificate.

Can Anyone Get a Copy of a Death Certificate in North Dakota?

According to North Dakota Century Code 23-02.1-27 (2), certified copies of death records are available only to:

• Relatives
• Authorized representative
• The child fatality review board
• The funeral director reporting the facts of death
• Anyone with a court order of competent jurisdiction

Certified copies of death records will include information about the cause of death and the deceased's social security number. On the other hand, the general public can obtain certified informational copies of death records. An informational copy does not contain confidential information such as the cause of death or social security number.

How Much Does a Death Certificate Cost in North Dakota?

Death certificates requested by mail or in-person cost $15 for the first copy and $10 for each additional copy. The requester can pay for copies by check or money order if requesting by mail. Cash payment is acceptable if requested in person. Online orders may attract extra credit or debit card charges.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Death Certificate in North Dakota?

Death records requested in person are available on the same day. On the other hand, mail-in requests may take three to five business days.

How Long to Keep Records After Death

There is no set time for keeping death records. Funeral homes usually have death records as long as they are in business. The North Dakota State Department of Health has death records from 1893 to the present.

How to Expunge Death Records in North Dakota

Expungement involves legally erasing a record from a file, such that it looks like the surrounding events never happened. North Dakota does not allow the expungement of death records.

How to Seal Death Records in North Dakota

Generally, North Dakota death records maintained by the State Department of Health are not sealed, although state laws may restrict some information on the record from public view.

How to Unseal Death Records in North Dakota

When a death record is found to be sealed, a person can contact the court that ordered the sealing to unseal it. The interested party may need to provide substantial reasons for wanting to unseal a death record or provide a signed statement from any of the eligible parties that are legally allowed to access the record.

How to Use the North Dakota Death Registry

The NDDOH Division of Vital Records North Dakota death index only requires the decedent's last name and when their death is thought to have occurred. Record seekers can complete additional input boxes to further narrow their search results. Some of these criteria include the decedent's first name and county of death. Interested persons can use the death registry, also known as a death index to conduct a North Dakota death certificate search and perform North Dakota obituaries searches. The registry also offers the option for record seekers to acquire certified copies of North Dakota death certificates. The registry is also the only way interested persons can conduct an online death record search in North Dakota through a government agency.

Besides the NDDOH death registry, death registries are maintained by other states as well at the national level. For instance, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Center for Health and Statistics maintains the United States Death Registry, generally known as the National Death Index (NDI). Only law enforcement investigators with a need for statistics, medical research, and public health studies are permitted access to the registry, which holds all United States death records.

Another noteworthy United States death registry is the SSA's public Social Security Death Index. Since 1936, the registry has collected United States death records from various sources, including the victim's family members, funeral facilities, banks, state agencies, and federal agencies. The registry also includes data on the SSA's decedent's social security number record.

How to Find an Obituary for a Specific Person in North Dakota

Inquirers can get in touch with local newspaper publishers and look through their newspaper archives provided they know the decedent's name, when they died, and death county. record seekers can obtain a copy of the newspaper that published the subject's obituary by looking through these archives.

Newspapers that were published in the state are also archived by the North Dakota Historical Society (NDHS). The NDHS provides microfilm copies of the North Dakota newspapers where obituaries were published through a searchable database on their website. The database can be used to get a list of newspapers published in a region in the state over a specific period of time. Included with each newspaper listing is a microfilm number and the paper’s publication date. Record seekers can contact the NDHS with a newspaper microfilm number and they will be given instructions on how to get a copy of the newspaper.

Record seekers can also visit a local library or the state library to review their newspaper archives to find a specific person's obituary in North Dakota. It should be noted that most local libraries only archive newspapers that were published within the county or city it covers. Meanwhile, the state library archives newspapers published across the state.

How to Conduct a Free Obituary Search in North Dakota

Anyone can conduct a free North Dakota obituary search by visiting the state library, a local library or by using a library's online request form (if available). Most libraries maintain an archive of newspapers that have been published in a specific region. To conduct a free obituary search, record seekers can browse these archives the same way they browse books in a library. Although few libraries in North Dakota also have an online request form that users can fill up with information about a subject to find out if the library has a document with the subject's obituary on file. The North Forks public library's Genealogy Request Form is an example of this type of form.

The Fargo Forum Obituary Index is a running project at North Dakota State University. Anyone interested in conducting a free obituary search for obituaries that appeared in forum newspapers can utilize this online index. The index, however, is not just limited to obituaries published in forum newspapers; it also includes obituaries published between October 1892 to 1909 and November 1982 to 1995. The Library of Congress (LOC) also provides an archive of South Dakota newspaper pages containing obituaries between 1771 - 1963 through their newspapers archive site (Chronicling America). Some third-party websites also offer free obituary lookup services.

What is Considered a Death Notice in North Dakota?

A North Dakota death notice is used to announce a person's death in the state. Death notices are often brief and include the bare minimum of details regarding the deceased, the funeral, and where donations can be made for the decedent's funeral. Newspapers, magazines, and other publications, such as websites and blogs, frequently publish death notices in North Dakota.

What is the Difference Between Death Notices and Obituaries?

Obituaries and death notices differ significantly in terms of the quantity of information they contain and how they are written. Death notices are often brief, written by the decedent's living family, and contain surface-level information about the decedent. This information includes the decedent’s name, age of death, place, and date of death. In contrast, obituaries are typically more in-depth and include a biography of the decedent's life. Obituaries are commonly edited pieces written by professional writers such as newspaper editors and reporters.