26:8-59.1 Persons authorized to obtain certification, certified copy of death certificate; accounting for fees.

24. a. Persons authorized to obtain and receive a certification or certified copy of a death certificate from a local registrar, deputy registrar, alternate deputy registrar, subregistrar, or an incorporated political subdivision comprising a registration district, shall include those individuals who establish themselves as one of the following: the parent, legal guardian or other legal representative of the subject of that record; the subject's spouse, child, grandchild or sibling, if of legal age, or the subject's legal representative; an agency of State or federal government for official purposes; a person possessing an order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or a person who is authorized under other emergent circumstances as determined by the commissioner. For the purposes of this section, any employee of a mortuary registered pursuant to P.L.1952, c.340 (C.45:7-32 et seq.), or a funeral director licensed pursuant to that act who is affiliated with a registered mortuary, if the mortuary was recorded on the original certificate of death, shall be construed to be the subject's legal representative and entitled to obtain full and complete copies of death certificates or certifications thereof.

b. Any fee charged, by a local registrar, deputy registrar, alternate deputy registrar, subregistrar, or an incorporated political subdivision comprising a registration district, to a funeral home as the legal representative for a person in securing a certified copy of a death certificate shall be in the form of a debit against the account of the funeral home and a credit to the applicable political subdivision within the NJ-EDRS.

L.2003,c.221,s.24.