Hawaii Death Records

Are Death Certificates Public in Hawaii?

No. Hawaii death certificates are not considered public death records. Records are only open to people with a direct and tangible interest in the record. Individuals eligible to obtain certified Hawaii death certificates are the decedent’s spouse, adoptive parents, birth parents, children, grandchildren, siblings, grandparents, aunt/uncle, cousins, and Legal representatives.

Record seekers can request death certificates from the Hawaii Department of Health Vital Records. The DOH is the state agency that maintains vital records like birth, death, marriage, and divorce records. This allows eligible individuals to make a vital record request for a nominal fee. For example, a Record seeker can conduct a death record search in Hawaii by mail or in person at the Department for $10 per first copy and $4 per additional copy. Alternatively, eligible individuals can search the United States death registry database to obtain information on United States death records. This helps to effectively find information on deaths where the deceased’s state of residence is unknown.

What Shows Up on Death Records in Hawaii?

A Hawaii death record is a government-issued document that provides information about the date, location, time, and cause of a person’s death. They are maintained alongside other Hawaii vital records, and they contain certain information about the deceased, including:

• The name of the deceased
• The decedent’s social security number
• The name of the deceased's birth parents
• The name of the decedent’s spouse, if any
• The deceased’s birth records, including date of birth
• The cause of the death
• The place and death of death
• The deceased’s gender

Death records provide permanent legal evidence of the fact of death and may be used as evidence in court proceedings or in any circumstance where there is a need to tender evidence of death. The information contained in the death record may also be used to apply for insurance benefits, settle pension claims, collect data for vital statistics, and transfer the title of the deceased's personal property. For instance, preliminary vital statistics data obtained from death records revealed that about 9,593 residents died between January and September 2022.

Death records are a component of public health statistics and may be used by the National Center for Vital Statistics for various medical research efforts in the United States.

How are Death Records Created in Hawaii?

A death record is created when the funeral home, cremation organization, or any other individual who has custody of the deceased's remains files the death certificate. According to §338-9 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, the individual responsible for the body must file a certificate of death or fetal death within three days after the incident occurred.

The death record may be filed with the Hawaii State Department of Health or the local agent of the district where the death occurred. However, if the death reports an intentional termination of pregnancy, as stated in section 453-16, the department may delay the filing for up to one month. Subsequently, the death record will be filed at the national level after it has been registered via the United States death registry. It is then collated alongside other United States death records and made available on national databases.

To file the certificate, the funeral home or other persons or organizations responsible must obtain the necessary personal data of the deceased from the person best qualified to provide them. The attending physician or Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) who attended to the deceased person before death may also provide details about the cause of death.

If, however, the death occurred outside the care of a physician or APRN, the local agent may refer the case to a local health officer to investigate and certify the cause of death before issuing a burial permit. In a case where the local health officer does not qualify as a physician or where such an office does not exist, the agent responsible may file the deceased's death certificate based on the available information.

Individuals may file death records with the Hawaii State Department of Health at the following address:

Hawaii State Department of Health
1250 Punchbowl Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
United States

How to Find Death Records Online in Hawaii

The State of Hawaii does not have a central online portal where interested parties may look up death records. However, interested persons may conduct a death records search in Hawaii and order certified copies of death records in person or via mail from the state Department of Public Health or the National Center for Vital Statistics.

Death records are considered open to citizens of the United States, and public records may be accessed through an online vendor or third-party aggregate site. In many cases, third-party websites make the search easier as they are not limited geographically or by technological limitations. They are a good place to start when ordering online for specific or multiple records. To gain access to these records, interested parties must typically provide:

• The name of the person listed in the record. Juveniles are typically exempt from this search method.
• The last known or assumed location of the person listed in the record. This includes cities, counties, and states.

While third-party sites offer such services, they are not government-sponsored entities and record availability may vary on these sites when compared to government sources.

Death Record Search by Name in Hawaii

The Hawaii State Department of Health does not provide an online lookup option where requesters can search death records by name. Additionally, the Digital Archives of Hawaii has no provision for death record search by name. However, there are several third-party sites where record seekers can search for the death records of individuals by imputing their names in the appropriate fields. A requester can search death records by name on some third-party sites at no cost. Here is the information that can be obtained when a death record search by name is done on third-party websites:

• Decedent’s personal information, including full name, sex, age at death,
• Date and place of death
• Birth records, including birth year
• Names of birth parents
• Name and sex of decedent’s spouse

It might be very difficult to obtain the decedent’s social security number from third-party sites. Therefore, individuals seeking such information must contact the State Vital Records Office.

Death Record Search by Address

A death record search by address in Hawaii can only be done on third-party websites for a fee. However, note that information obtained from these sites cannot be used for official purposes.

How to Find Death Records for Free in Hawaii

Generally, death records are not free in Hawaii. However, certain records provide information about deceased persons and are available for free. Some of these records include cemetery records, newspapers, probate records, burial permits, census mortality schedules, etc.

Individuals seeking to obtain certified copies of Hawaii death records may do so by applying in person or via mail at the Hawaii State Department of Health.

How to Obtain Death Records in Hawaii

Eligible parties may obtain death records in Hawaii by applying to the State Vital Records Office. This department serves as the central repository for maintaining records of deaths that occurred in Hawaii, from 1896 till date. Interested persons may conduct a death record search in Hawaii in two ways:

• In-person request
• Mail request

In-person request

To apply in person, requesters may visit the office of the state's Department of Health at the following address:

Hawaii State Department of Health
1250 Punchbowl Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
United States

The Office opens from Monday to Friday between the hours of 7:25 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., except on state-recognized holidays.

A requester must come with a completed Application for a Certified Copy of Hawaii Death Record form, a valid government ID, and applicable fees. The application form has three main sessions which stipulate the required detail for processing death record requests in Hawaii.

Mail request

To request a copy of the death record by mail, interested persons must first download and complete the Application for a Certified Copy of Hawaii Death Record form. Requesters must mail a completed copy of the application form, a valid government ID, and applicable fees to the address below:

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

Can Anyone Get a Copy of a Death Certificate in Hawaii?

According to section 338- 18, Title 19 of the Hawaii Code, Hawaii death certificates are not public records. As a result, they can only be accessed by persons who are considered to have a tangible and direct interest in the death record.

Some examples of individuals who are considered to have a tangible and direct interest in the record are as follows:

• The registrant
• Registrant’s spouse
• The parent(s) of the registrant
• The offspring of the registrant (e.g. a child, grandchild, great-grandchild, e.t.c.)
• A relative of the registrant (e.g., a sibling, aunt/uncle, grandparent, e.t.c.)
• A ward of the registrant
• An agency or person acting as a representative of the registrant
• A personal representative of the registrant’s estate;
• An individual that a court of competent jurisdiction authorized to obtain a copy of the record
• An adoptive parent(s) who has filed a petition for adoption and needs to ascertain the death of the prospective adopted child’s legal or natural parents
• An individual who needs to ascertain the death of a non-related partner or co-owner of a property under a joint tenancy agreement
• A person who needs a death certificate to file an insurance claim.

However, death certificates cease to be confidential records and may be accessed by the public 75 years after the filing date. As such, a record seeker can conduct a Hawaii death certificate search by making in-person or mail-in requests to the State Vital Records Office.

How Much Does a Death Certificate Cost in Hawaii?

The cost of obtaining the first copy of a death certificate in Hawaii is $10. However, every additional copy of the certificate ordered at the same time costs $4 each.

For requests made by mail, applicants may make payment via certified cheques, cashier’s checks, or money orders to the State Department of Health. A requester who applies in person may make payment by cash, cashier’s check, credit card, certified check, or money order. A check or money order should be made payable to the State Department of Health.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Death Certificate in Hawaii?

Depending on the mode of application, the processing time for a death certificate ranges between 2 and 8 weeks. Hawaii death certificate search by mail takes an average of 6 to 8 weeks to complete processing after the receipt and approval of the application. In-person requests, on the other hand, require ten business days.

However, certificates that are very old or still being filed may take a longer time to process. This is because old certificates may require more search time, and new certificates may still be being filed.

Depending on the urgency of the request, the State Department of Health may provide same-day service. For this procedure to take effect, the requester must present a written document that establishes the need for urgency.

How Long to Keep Records After Death

Generally, individuals may retain all the relevant documents or paperwork associated with the deceased for at least three years. The deceased's vital records, on the other hand, should be held indefinitely.

Some of the deceased documents individuals may keep include:

• Original copies of certificates like birth, death, marriage, and divorce decree
• Original copies of a prenuptial agreement
• Original documents containing information about bond, stock, and other asset ownership certificates
• Documents with information about income tax returns from the past three years, along with supporting documents
• Documents with information on estate tax returns
• Documents with information about retirement plans, such as annuity contracts, pension paperwork, etc.

How to Expunge Death Records in Hawaii

An expungement order is a directive from the court to treat a criminal conviction as though it never occurred. When a criminal conviction is expunged, the court removes it from the defendant's criminal record, and this, in turn, deletes it from the public record. Hence, death records cannot be expunged in Hawaii, as only criminal records may be expunged.

How to Seal Your Death Records in Hawaii

Death records cannot be sealed in the State of Hawaii, only court records may be sealed and made confidential through a court order.

How to Unseal Death Records in Hawaii

Since death records cannot be sealed In the State of Hawaii, there are no provisions for unsealing them. However, court records, which may be sealed, can be unsealed by filing a request with the court where the sealed records are held.

How to Use the Hawaii Death Registry

Following a person's death, the decedent's family members may publish Hawaii death notices informing the general public of the event. When this occurs, the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) requires that such information be recorded to update public health statistics. The DOH is the state agency tasked with maintaining birth, death, marriage and divorce records.

The Hawaii death registry, also known as Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS), is where authorized individuals are required to register deaths that occur in the state. Individuals interested in using the EDRS can request access forms and training tutorials from the Hawaii Department of Health Vital Records Office. Using the EDRS involves a funeral director providing demographic information about the deceased and then transferring the case to the medical certifier. The medical certifier is required to provide the deceased’s medical information. When the death certificate is ready, the funeral director files it with the State vital records office. The Office registers the death and adds it to the Hawaii death index database. This allows eligible individuals to obtain certified copies of the record by conducting a Hawaii death certificate search by mail or in person. Subsequently, the death record will also be added to the United States death records that will be recorded in the United States death registry. Hawaii death notices can be published before or after the registration.

How to Find an Obituary for a Specific Person in Hawaii

Record seekers can find an obituary for a specific person on the Digital Archives of Hawaii website. To conduct a Hawaii Obituary search, the record seekers may enter the query “obituary” on the search box on the screen's upper right. A research result revealing information on obituaries in the state will appear. The record seeker would have to review the information to find the obituary of the specific person they are seeking. For more information on Hawaii obituary search, contact the State Archives at (808) 586-0329 or archives@hawaii.gov.

How to Conduct a Free Obituary Search in Hawaii

Record seekers can conduct a free obituary lookup on the Digital Archives of Hawaiʻi website. Obituary records between 1836 and 1950 are available via this online tool. Alternatively, records seekers can conduct a free obituary search through local newspaper databases of the city or county where the deceased resided. Contact the Hawai‘i State Archives at (808) 586-0329 or archives@hawaii.gov for more information regarding a free obituary search in the state.

What is Considered a Death Notice in Hawaii?

Death notices are the most common way Hawaiians announce the passing away of their loved ones. Typically, a death notice is usually a brief statement regarding a person’s death. It contains basic information about the deceased and the date and place of the memorial or funeral services.

What is the Difference Between Hawaii Death Notices and Obituaries?

Typically, death notices and obituaries serve different purposes. A death notice is a simple way people inform the general public about a person’s death. It includes the deceased’s name, date and location of death, and the funeral home handling their arrangements. Conversely, obituaries provide more information about the deceased (full name, date of birth, hobbies, and religion), date and place of death, funeral service, and surviving family members (including important genealogical references).