When completing the paperwork for a death certificate an innocent mistake, oversight, or incorrect information can have bigger consequences than you may think.
When someone dies in South Australia, the funeral director will normally register their death with Births, Deaths and Marriages on behalf of the person's family or friends.
Deaths need to be registered within seven days of burial or cremation. And applications can take up to eight weeks to be processed.
As a lawyer who administers deceased estates and applies for probate on behalf of my clients, there's little to nothing that I can do to progress the finalisation of an estate until I am in receipt of a death certificate (apart from chat to you and assure you everything will happen in time). So imagine how frustrating it is to finally receive a certificate only to find there's a mistake.
When tiny mistakes have big consequences
Even a seemingly insignificant spelling error or incorrect date can delay the process of applying for probate. Discovering that your mother's maiden name was infact Johannes (not Jones as you'd always been led to believe) can complicate and add weeks to the process.
Mistakes, misspellings, misunderstandings are all part of life, but when they're part of your death certificate application they add unneccessary complication and potentially delay the finalisation of an estate.
There's no requirement for the person lodging a death certificate application to cross check or verify information, but as the executor of an estate it's important that you check and ensure the information is correct. Before the application gets lodged (usually immediately after the body has been cremated or buried).
When innocent information can have even bigger consequences
Whilst it's important to provide factual information on a death certificate application, it's also important to consider how the information will be used. Even the most innocent information can have a big impact if it's incorrect.
The cause of death can throw into question the deceased's capacity in the lead up to and at the time of death. Unlisted dependents, incorrect marritial status, the listed place of residence can all cause unneccessary complication and potentially delay the finalisation of an estate.
Whilst there's no requirement for the person lodging a death certificate application to cross check or verify information, as the executor of an estate it's important that you check and ensure the information is correct before the application gets lodged (usually immediately after the body has been cremated or buried).
Be a dream dead person - do a pop quiz
Your family might know what your favourite colour is, whether or not you've ridden a motorbike, if you prefer Fruichocs or jelly snakes. But do they know...
Your maiden name?
If you're divorced or separated and how many wives you've had?
Where you were born?
If you have any secret children?
If you want to make it onto my Dream Dead Person Honour Roll take 5 minutes to test your family to see if they know the following things about you (or better still just write them down and leave them somewhere they can pull out and refer to if they need to.
I've created an easy to share or download info guide on completing a death certificate (complete with pop quiz). Click the link below to grab your copy.