Certificate Date

By TheCount on Wed, 06/30/2021 - 15:35

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Does the certificate date refer to the date the certificate was filed or the date that the certificate was issued?

For example I have a certified copy of death certificate given to me by a relative. The death took place in 1937 and it was filed in 1937, but it is stamped by the Department of Health May 24 1984. Which date should I use in the citation?

 

Submitted byEEon Wed, 06/30/2021 - 17:59

TheCount, when we cite the certificate, we cite the original filing date. If we are using a copy made many years later, that is now in private possession, we are citing a family artifact and we don't know what has happened within the original agency or its records in the half-century interval. Therefore:

  1. We cite the certificate by agency-author and the date it was created.
  2. We do not attempt to identify the current office where it might be held.
  3. We close out the citation sentence by adding that we are using a family copy issued by the Department of Health on 24 May 1984.