Death Certificate

[SymphonyofShadows]

I need to get hold of a copy of the death certificate for someone who was once close to me. I have been trying to trace them for years and have recently found out they died some time ago, but I don't have an exact date. I've tried to order from the records office but it states I need the date. Any suggestions please?

General register office or the local register office for where the person died.

The GRO need the correct date, and I don't know where they died. This is the difficulty.

Why do you need a death certifiapcate for this person that you not know when or where they died?

You could try Googling and see if you come up with any announcements in the local paper from the area they were in?

Is there anyone alive who would know? Someone must have been the informant.

How recent is this? Do you know what area (county if not exact town) ?

GRO ask for a date if you can't give them the registration details. For recent deaths it's not usually possible to find this online.
Some local authorities have more recent details online so you can get the cert direct from them.

I know how they died, and roughly when. This person was very much linked to me but disappeared many years ago. I don't want to say more as it would be outing to anyone who knows me. I need the certificate to be certain.

I know the rough area so I could try there. Googling has drawn a blank, but I don't think they were at all active on social media and I doubt there was an obituary. Thank you for all the replies and sorry to be vague. I don't want it for any nefarious means. I'd just like it confirmed and also to clear up the things that we still might be linked together in.

I found a date of death using probate search when another family member concealed the death from the rest of our family. You just need surname and year.
probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

Thanks 5makes9, I'll try that. I found out from a family member of his that I'd tracked down on SM, but I don't want to intrude any more than I have already.

Try one of the sites where you trace people, like Ancestry.com. If you have approximate names, ages, addresses you can trace people quite easily. That might throw up the place and date of death.

Thanks everyone for your help. I have spoken to someone at the records office who was able to take my order for the DC over the phone. It may or may not be found, but it's the last resort really. I've tried Ancestry and I can find his birth registered and marriage but no death.

Good luck.

If you don’t get it now, keep trying, it sometimes takes a bit of time to get them.

Thank you. I'm drawing a blank so far, I tried the records office but they sent back the fee. They did say that it was because they didn't have enough info.

It's my estranged husband's death certificate that I'm looking for. He disappeared several decades ago. I tried to find him to divorce him several times, got so far then he would disappear again, so the trail went cold. I can find evidence of him on electoral records up to 2005 then nothing. The manner in which he died suggests that he was either homeless, in hospital or elsewhere in the 'system'. I now have to have some serious surgery so I would like to get my affairs in order, just in case.

The manner in which he died suggests that he was either homeless, in hospital or elsewhere in the 'system'.

Sounds like something that might have been in a local newspaper's reports, of the death, or of inquests (if you are in England and Wales). You could contact local papers for the area to find out what archives they have online and/or ask the coroner's court what info is publicly available.

I've searched all that. It was a death caused by substance abuse so nothing really newsworthy as such.

Including material not on their main websites? Stuff from 10 years ago or so mostly wouldn't be, as a lot of local papers have changed their sites in the last few years. It might be in a digital archive usually used by staff or outside researchers.

Did you also enquire at the coroners office, or procurator fiscal if Scotland? There may be scope to do a freedom of information request, probably more likely with the former.

Thank you! I did wonder about FOI requests. I don't want to go back to the relative who told me, I found their work website and contacted them out of the blue. They were lovely about it but it was clearly very painful so I would rather not trouble them again if I can help it, but I realise I may have to. I can just imagine what he put them through over the years, from my own experiences.

As you are in difficult circumstances yourself and need the info for some administrative reason it seems reasonable to ask. (And should be faster and potentially cheaper than other routes. Assuming they still work at the same place and are not on a couple of weeks' holiday.) You clearly care about its effect on them and can word things to convey that.

Could it have been that an estimated date was used for the certificate if it wasn't known exactly which day it happened? Going by what you've said here, you'd presumably need the date on the certificate to be able to order it. So if you want to keep number of emails to a minimum perhaps specify that you need the official date that's on the death certificate? (Have only ever ordered genealogical certificates, no direct experience of obtaining one this recent.)

You are right, I'm going to have to approach them again. I really didn't want to but I don't see how I have much choice.

I can totally see how it's been missed btw. I have been looking at my family tree and can't find my aunt's death online, even knowing the date and place.