Families Are Forced to Wait on Death Certificates
Steve Martin is used to grief, but the president-elect of the Texas Funeral Directors Association admits that the pre-dawn phone calls still get to him. A grieving widow who’s had her lights turned off. Or can’t get into her late husband’s bank account. Or can't collect on an insurance policy.
Such desperation can add to the overwhelming grief of losing a loved one, and nothing more than a simple bureaucratic snafu is to blame: the failure of doctors to process death certificates in a timely manner. The certificates are required for all manner of basic tasks ...
Comments (4)
Julia Cabrera via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The State Legislature needs to do something about the Department of State Health Services. Too many other problems there, too.
Beverly Acrey Kimbrough via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Having just begun this process, it has worked well for me. I received the certificates within a week. It may be that the doctors are more of the problem than the State agency.
Greg Audel via Texas Tribune on Facebook
My father passed away 8 years ago. He always stated he had 2 life insurance policies. We've never been able to find them.
The most caring thing you can do for those close to you is make sure everyone who needs to knows your wishes and where your legal documents are located.
Delaine Martindale
I'm facing this now. I have minor children and the bills will keep coming. We depend on the child support to pay bills. I talked to a friend who is a doctor in New York and he gives the family a death certificate himself. Why can't the widow or minors get it that way for immediate needs? The doctor obviously knows and has declared the person "dead". The creditors and bills keep coming. This drives a business that could potentially continue to operate to go under. Boom...unemployed people and no way to access the bank acount to run the business. No payroll and any outstanding business shut down. I can't imagine that this system is not just another broken system, at least in Texas.