Revised Death Certificate Update

By Sharon Dover
Office of Vital Statistics

The revised Florida Certificate of Death has been in place for a little over a year. During that time the State Office of Vital Statistics has worked with those involved in the death registration process to achieve an understanding of the structure and layout of the revised record, as well as the changes in how information is to be reported on the record. The process has run rather smoothly and we complement everyone on their efforts.

Formats of many items on the revised death certificate changed at the direction of the National Center for Health Statistics and in order to maintain good quality data, preparers of the records need to be completing items in the same way. Certain items on the record have consistently shown to be of some concern and we offer clarification on how they should be completed.

• 7, Birthplace - if the city of birth is not known, it is acceptable to enter the county name, followed by the state of birth. If neither the city nor the county is known, enter Unknown, followed by the state of birth.
• 11b and 14g, City Limits questions - these items must be completed on all records;
• 12, Marital Status, 13, Surviving Spouse's Name - if item 12 indicates Married or Married but Separated, item 13 must include the spouse's name. If the name is unknown, Unknown should be entered.
• 32, Time of Death - this item should be completed in the format of the Universal Time Clock (UTC)

Begins at 0000 and ends at 2359;
Four digit field with no colon - if the time is only three digits there should be a leading 0 (e.g. 0415 equates to 4:15 AM, whereas 1615 equates to 4:15 PM);
The following are instructions on how to proceed if the time is mistakenly entered and the Chief Deputy Registrar returns the record to you:

3 digits with a colon, but no AM or PM indicator, e.g., 6:45 - the record does not have to be re-prepared, even though it is not the desired format of the UTC, but the AM/PM indicator must be entered;
3 digits with no colon, e.g., 815 - there should be a leading zero for the UTC, or a colon and an AM or PM indicator; again, the record does not have to be re-prepared.


This item is very important in that it can possibly impact the date of death should the death occur near midnight.

Chief Deputy Registrars have been instructed to relay this information to the funeral directors in their county and to assist them so there is a good understanding of how the items are to be completed. If you have questions on the proper completion of the death certificate, refer to the Vital Records Registration Handbook or contact your Chief Deputy Registrar.

View the PDF of this document