Death Certificates

Families

The medical examiner is responsible to complete the medical portion of the death certificate. Our office generates all death certificates through the Electronic Death Registry System (EDRS) and are completed within 24 hours of autopsy. Once the death certificate is completed by our office it can be claimed by the funeral director/funeral home for completion and filing.

The funeral director can assist you with purchasing official copies of the death certificate, but additional copies can be purchased from the Oakland County Clerk’s office.

If your loved one died in Farmington Hills, Madison Heights, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Southfield, or Troy you will need to get copies from that city’s Clerk’s office.

Our office does not produce death certificates.

Funeral Directors

In many cases the death certificate will be signed by a physician who was overseeing and individuals care (ex: a primary care doctor or oncologist). Michigan law requires the medical section of a death certificate to be certified by an attending physician within 48 hours after the death of a person (MCL333. 2843(1)(a)). If you are having difficulty getting a doctor to certify the death certificate, please contact the Oakland County Medical Examiner after the initial 48 hours has passed OR if the doctor has refused to certify.

The Medical Examiner’s office is responsible to complete the medical portion of the death certificate for ALL Medical Examiner cases. Our office generates all death certificates through the Electronic Death Registry System (EDRS) and are completed within 24 hours of autopsy. Once the death certificate is completed by our office it can be claimed by the funeral director/funeral home for completion and filing.

When searching for a record please be sure you are under “add a new record” and all of your information matches what has been entered by our office. Please do NOT add additional information which looking up the record (ex: social security number).

Please do not make ANY changes to the information the OCME put on the Death Certificate unless you have called us to verify the change is correct and necessary or we have contacted you to request a change.

• ie: If the OCME signed the Death Certificate and Box '40a states "No", you cannot legally change it without our permission. Private autopsies do NOT qualify changing box 40a to "Yes".
• ie: Date/Time of Death and Date/Time Pronounced DO NOT have to match and any disputes on date or time of death must be brought to the attention of the OCME and not changed without our permission.

If the death occurred in Farmington Hills, Madison Heights, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Southfield, or Troy you will need to file the certificate with the city clerk. Copies can also be obtained from that city’s Clerk’s office. If the death occurred in any other city in Oakland County copies can be obtained at the county Clerk’s Office.