Hawaii Death Records: How to Perform a Hawaii Death Records Search

The need to obtain a person's death record in Hawaii is often informed by the need to use it as a source of evidence under various circumstances. 

A judge may request that the decedent's next of kin provides this document to settle a property ownership claim. 

Insurance and pension funds may also need it to transfer benefits from deceased persons to their family dependants or next of kin.

Other persons in the field of health research use it as a data source to observe important trends in the state. 

Whichever is the motivation for you, you can find the death record of interest to you in Hawaii, and this article shows how. 

Hawaii Death Records Explained

A death record in Hawaii refers to an official document that is issued by government sources in response to a death that occurred in the state. 

It contains information that identifies the dead person and the circumstances surrounding their death. 

This means it features the name, age, and gender of the deceased, among other details, as provided by their direct relative. 

It also records the medical certification of the cause of death.

The office of vital statistics in the department of health is usually charged with registering the death record. 

Once registered, it now bears significant value and can be later collected by eligible persons. 

It'll be designated as "Confidential" and restricted from public access until 75 years from when it was created.

What Can I Find In An Hawaii Death Record?

Hawaii death records serve informational purposes and provide legal value when certified. Some of what you can expect to find in a death record include:

* The deceased's name, sex, color race
* Their social security number(SSN)
* The name of their parents, siblings, spouse, and children, if any
* The place, date, and cause of death
* Their date and place of birth
* Their date and place of death
* The registration number of the record

Other than the details listed above, a death record also contains the name of the funeral director, coroner, or medical examiner who certifies the cause of death. 

How Are Hawaii Death Records Created?

Section §338-9 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes provides the conditions for registering a death record and the time it must be registered. 

The process begins when a death is recorded in the state, and the body is deposited in a funeral home or a cremation outfit. 

They first obtain relevant personal information from the deceased's relatives. 

Next, the attending physician, nurse, or medical examiner is called to certify the cause of death.

In the absence of these persons, a local health officer or any person authorized by the local health registry may complete this task. 

Once the facts of the death are established and duly recorded, the funeral home can forward the document to the local registrar. 

This government official helps to register the newly created death record and files it with the vital records office at the department of health. 

Where Can I Find Hawaii Death Records?

Death records are mostly available to eligible persons on their application to the Vital Records Office in the Hawaii Department of Health, the central record custodian. 

This office accepts record requests for only those deaths that took place after 1896 up until the present day. 

The record can be applied for in person or through the mail. 

First, the requester must obtain and complete the form titled "Application for a Certified Copy of Hawaii Death Record."

The application packet must include a valid state-issued government ID and the required fees. 

This fee, usually $10 for the first copy and $4 for each extra one, must be paid and submitted in check or money order. 

The application and its contents, as previously mentioned, can now be sent to the address:

State Department of Health,
Office of Health Status Monitoring,
Issuance/Vital Statistics Section,
P.O. Box 3378
Honolulu, HI

Applicants who wish to collect the death record in person may visit the state Department of Health at its address—1250 Punchbowl Street
Honolulu, HI 96813. 

They'd need to provide proof of tangible interest in the record and present their ID details. 

Once they've paid the applicable service fee, their request can be granted the same day.

Third-Party Websites

In your quest to find a death record in Hawaii, you can try out a third-party website, and you'd be sure to find value in doing so. 

Third-party websites provide access to publicly available death records in a much more convenient fashion than in government-run record search channels. 

The basic requirement is a registered account and a paid subscription to the third-party website.

You'd only have to provide the name of the deceased and their last known residence in the appropriate text fields provided on the website's search portal. 

Click "Search" next and you'll be shown a number of results bearing names similar to your search subject. 

You can now settle for the one of interest to you and find a downloadable copy of the death record.