Will most death certificates list a cause of death?

I've seen a couple of hundred on the Missouri site, and a couple of dozen on the WV one. They all have cause, although on some it is simply "old age". Most have a $12 medical phrase in a crabbed hand.

Your question was wonderfully specific, so you are able to get more focused info. I'm going a bit generic, for maybe others. Each state has specific laws, on who can legally access such items..or, when they become public. IE..Texas certs over 25 yrs old, are on www.familysearch.org. WV has their own web site, with birth and death records, generally historic ones. Arizona also makes certain death certs available for free, full copy. But not recent ones. I keep getting questions from my kids relating to "medical history", and I have to keep saying that my family generally was unable to have medical care, and some things that we take for granted today.. they just didn't know about. Records can only reflect what was known. A person can have heart issues that stem from diabetes..and yet, people can have diabetes..and not know it until they die. At least in olden times. So the normal rule is that a death cert will have A cause of death..being a normal part of the certificate, but the tricky part is being sure it is the whole story...and again, the time and location of the death is relevant for how to get the record itself.

Yes, the death certificate will list the cause of death. The problem, if you are American, is that you don't have a legal right to the death certificates, particularly not your niece's. Privacy laws keep that information sealed from non-heirs for legal reasons up to 72 years, depending on the state. You would do better to find someone in the family who knows how they did and gently broach the subject with them. ____________________________ In that case, you can try. California is more liberal with some of their records than the rest of the country. Michigan won't even let me have a copy of my own brother's death certificate until he's been dead for 10 years, because he was an adult, married and therefore I'm no longer legally "immediate family." I'm so sorry about your other sister. That's a tragedy when people do that. I know too well that it happens, but it's still very sad. Good luck to you.

You have some good answers. The only thing I can tell you is you can order one and see if you can get it. However, it is true that the death certificate will show the immediate cause of death not always the underlying cause. Diabetes is frequently the underlying cause of many ailments. In Texas we have to wait 25 years to get a death certificate on another person unless we are the person legally entitled to receive it. I never see the cause of deaths on obituaries. I believe at one time they did.

Present day death certificates definitely do, as the cause of death information is reported to state and Federal government health agencies for statistical purposes. However, depending upon the health conditions of the person at death, what is written by a doctor as the cause of death and the actual, underlying causes of the death can differ. Example: My late mother suffered from congestive heart failure. Before her death her attending nurse told me all her heart valves were shot and she would pass away soon - congestive heart failure. The doctor wrote "kidney failure" for her cause of death on her death certificate. The kidneys do fail close to the time of a person's death. I know her actual cause of death was congestive heart failure. If you must know the causes of their deaths (as written on their death certificates) then it will definitely worth it to pay for copies of their death certificates. However, for your niece, you may not be able to legally request a copy of her death cert. Much less expensive option: If your half sister was married at the time of her death and if you are in contact with her husband, then he would probably have a death cert. for your half sister and his/her daughter and may be willing to make a photocopy of each for you. Even if you had found a printed death notice/obituary for your half sister and her daughter, these days most such notices do not mention causes of death, so they are not often useful for the info you seek anyway. Librarians--Ask Us, We Answer! Find your local Public Library at: http://www.publiclibraries.com/ Find your College/University Library at: http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Academic_main.html Best wishes