How to request a death certificate in Puerto Rico

It is the certified copy of the death record filed with Puerto Rico’s Demographic Registry. It is the document you will be asked for in nearly everything that follows a death: claiming life insurance, closing bank accounts, collecting Social Security benefits, inheritance and probate proceedings, cancelling services, and transferring a vehicle or property. Almost all of those keep the copy you hand over, so in practice a single copy is rarely enough.

The rules here are stricter than for births or marriages, and the Registry writes them as a closed list: the interested party qualified to obtain a death certification is limited to the deceased’s parents and descendants, their spouse, their children, a legal representative, or a government agency for official purposes. There are two special cases. The funeral director named on the certificate — or whoever is acting in that role — is a qualified applicant for a period not exceeding 60 days from the date of death, and is entitled to one certificate. And if you are an insurance beneficiary but not direct family or an authorized person, you must present evidence that you are a beneficiary.

• Being on the closed list of applicants: the Registry states that the qualified interested party is limited to the deceased’s parents and descendants, their spouse, their children, a legal representative, or a government agency for official purposes.Verified against the official source
• If you are an insurance beneficiary but not direct family or an authorized person, evidence that you are a beneficiary.Verified against the official source
• If you are the funeral director named on the certificate, requesting within 60 days of the date of death: the Registry sets that period as the limit and grants the right to one certificate.Verified against the official source
• Completing the request in full with the details of the death and of the applicant.Verified against the official source
• The death details: the deceased’s full name as registered, the date, and the municipality where the death occurred.

• Current photo identification issued by the government of your state or country of residence. The Registry names a driver license, a passport or a state ID as the most widely accepted; foreign nationals must present a current passport, visa or residence card.
• If you apply by mail, Form RD-227, “Solicitud por Correo de Certificación de Defunción en Puerto Rico”, revision date February 2020, available in Spanish and English. The Registry warns that any other format or template will NOT be accepted.
• If you apply by mail, a photocopy of both sides of your current ID showing name, photo, signature, issue date and expiration date. Through that channel only a passport, a U.S. state or territory driver license, or a state or territory ID card are accepted.
• If a hired attorney handles the filing, Form RD-37 in addition to the authorization letter and current identification of whoever hired them.

1. 1

   Step 1: First ask whether they need it to state the cause of death

   This is the step that saves a second trip. Some claims — life insurance above all — require the certificate to state the cause of death. The Registry explains that when the death is recent (within the first 6 months) and the cause has not yet been recorded on the certificate, that document must be requested at the Local Office in the municipality where the person died, not through the general channels, and it costs $15.00 for the first copy. Confirm with whoever is requiring it before you request anything.

2. 2

   Step 2: Confirm you are on the list of people who may request it

   Unlike births and marriages, the list here is closed: parents and descendants, spouse, children, a legal representative, or a government agency for official purposes. A sibling, a nephew or a close friend are not on that list. If you are an insurance beneficiary and not direct family, what opens the door is the evidence that you are a beneficiary, so get it before you go.

3. 3

   Step 3: If the funeral home is handling it, count the 60 days

   The funeral director named on the certificate is a qualified applicant, but the Registry limits that to a period not exceeding 60 days from the date of death, and entitles them to one certificate. In other words: the funeral home can get you one early on, but it is neither a permanent nor an unlimited channel. If you are going to need more copies, the prudent move is to request them yourself from the start.

4. 4

   Step 4: Count how many copies you will need before requesting

   Almost every step after a death keeps the certified copy: life insurance, the bank, Social Security, the declaration of heirs, transferring the vehicle, cancelling services. Each copy costs the same, so asking for several in one request costs you nothing extra, while coming up short means repeating the whole process at a moment when nobody has the head for it.

5. 5

   Step 5: Choose the channel and pay by the method it accepts

   The general routes are the local office, PR.gov, VitalChek — online or at (800) 255-2414, with a bilingual call center and express service — and postal mail using Form RD-227. Online and through VitalChek most credit cards are accepted; the Registry expressly asks that you send neither cash nor personal checks. By mail, only money orders payable to the Secretary of the Treasury, plus $2.00 for service.

For the ordinary certificate: at a Demographic Registry local office, online through PR.gov or VitalChek, or by mail using Form RD-227. For the certificate stating the cause of death when the death is recent: at the Demographic Registry Local Office in the municipality where the person died, which is the only place that handles it.

• Requesting the ordinary certificate when the insurance claim requires it to state the cause of death, which is a separate request, in a different place, at a different price.
• Letting the funeral home handle everything and finding out late that its window as a qualified applicant does not exceed 60 days and entitles it to a single certificate.
• Requesting one copy when the insurer, the bank, Social Security and the probate filing will each keep their own.
• Assuming a brother or sister may request it: the Registry’s list does not include them.
• Being an insurance beneficiary without being direct family and showing up without the evidence that you are a beneficiary.
• Mailing a personal check or a request on your own template: only money orders and only Form RD-227 as revised in February 2020 are accepted.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico

  Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov

• Birth certificate — same mail procedure and same channels

  Departamento de Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov

• Demographic Registry — online services

  Departamento de Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov