North Carolina’s Shift to Electronic Death Records: What It Means for Families

This week, North Carolina’s pilot of vital records management software will begin in eight counties, including Wake, Durham, Guilford and Mecklenburg. It’s hard to believe we haven’t been doing it this way already, and it’s true that NC is one of only three states* that still use paper.

If you’ve lost a loved one, the most important benefit of shifting to electronic death records is that it should minimize the number of opportunities for human error in the process of obtaining and filing a death certificate with the county.

The current system involves the funeral home producing a physical copy of the death certificate, driving it to the right doctor and waiting. Then, when it’s ready, they pick it up and take it to the local health department. All of this can take weeks before the family receives the death certificate, which is the key piece of documentation you need to claim life insurance, close bank accounts and more.

With the new system, funeral directors, medical examiners, and doctors log into the NC Database Application for Vital Events and complete their required tasks. This more automated process should result in fewer errors and the completed death certificates being sent to the family more quickly.

Check out this website for more information about the system and the current implementation schedule.

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*West Virginia and Rhode Island are the others that still use paper, in case you were curious!