§ 5202a. Correction, completion, or amendment of death certificate

(a) Corrections, completions. Within six months after the date of death, the State Registrar may correct or complete a death certificate upon application by the certifying licensed health care professional, medical examiner, hospital, nursing home, or funeral director, if the application and relevant evidence, if any, show that the correction or completion is warranted.

(b) Amendments. After six months from the date of death, any alteration of a death certificate shall be deemed an amendment. Upon application by a person specified in subsection (a) of this section, the State Registrar may amend the death certificate if the application and relevant evidence, if any, show that the amendment is warranted.

(c) Appeal. If the State Registrar denies an application for a correction, completion, or amendment under this section, the applicant may petition the Probate Division of the Superior Court, which shall review the application and relevant evidence de novo to determine if the requested action is warranted. The court shall transmit a decree ordering a correction, completion, or amendment to the State Registrar, who shall take action in accordance with the decree.

(d) Documentation of changes. The State Registrar shall make corrections, completions, and amendments in the Statewide Registration System. A corrected or completed certificate issued from the System shall be free of any evidence of the alteration and shall not be marked "Amended." Any amended death certificate issued from the System shall indicate the word "Amended" and the date of amendment. The State Registrar shall enter into and maintain in the System the identity of the person requesting the correction, completion, or amendment, the nature and content of the change, the identity of the person making the change in the System, and the date the change was made.

(e) Original certificates. If the State Registrar corrects, completes, or amends a certificate that was registered prior to July 1, 2019, he or she shall notify the town clerk or clerks with custody of the original certificate, who shall replace and dispose of the original and update indexes, as directed by the State Registrar.

(f) Cause of death. The State Registrar shall only correct, complete, or amend the medical certification of the cause of death upon application by the medical examiner or certifying licensed health care professional. (Added 1979, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011; 2017, No. 46, § 52, eff. July 1, 2018; 2018, No. 11 (Sp. Sess.), § I.9, eff. July 1, 2019.)