The Department of Vital Records, do they keep death and birth certificates together?

by brihar bathcity

Question by baby don’t hurt me: The Department of Vital Records, do they keep death and birth certificates together?
…so if i were to claim a dead person’s identity by asking for her birth certificate as if it were mine, would they know by pulling up the records in file that this person has already been deceased?…common sense tells me yes and so does the title of the department, “vital records”…
…and no, i’m not asking so i can do this myself, i just wanna be sure that no one can steal my identity once i’m dead…thank you and have a nice day..

Best answer:

Answer by GenevievesMom
No, there is no relational database kept to track a birth record against a death record. Were you born in Chicago in 1953 and died in San Diego in 2008, Chicago would never know you were dead. BUT, your Social Security number will be retired as soon as the funeral director files your death certificate with them. As soon as you are “declared dead” by the Social Security Administration, there’s no way someone can use your identity. They’ll be immediately red-flagged and won’t get anywhere trying to become you. There was a time in history when people running from the law could go through old newspapers and find the obituary of a child who died decades ago, go pull his/her birth certificate by claiming to be a sibling, then assume a new identity. That’s why you now have to provide picture ID in order to get a birth certificate on anyone born in the last 80 years…and they take a copy of it and keep it on file. If anything happens, the ID thief is toast.

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