The Akron Legal News

Lawmaker says limited access to death certificates could reduce identity theft

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 27, 2015

Ohio is one of 10 “open-access” states where unrestricted public access to death certificates exists.

“Without any restrictions, Ohio is at a greater risk of being a target for identity theft,” said Sen. Jim Hughes.

Hughes, R-Columbus, understands this personally. His father’s identity was stolen after his death.

The lawmaker has reintroduced a bill into the Ohio General Assembly that would restrict who can receive an official copy of a death certificate in Ohio for the first five years after someone passes away.

The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 61, is before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

“Official copies of death certificates contain personal information including the social security number of a decedent and currently anyone (can) obtain a copy of a death certificate as long as they complete an application and pay a fee,” Hughes said.

“The intent of this legislation is to prevent identity theft where identity thieves may try and use the personal information of a death certificate for fraud, deception or economic gain.”

SB 61 would limit access of an official copy of a death certificate containing a social security number to the decedent’s spouse, a lineal descendant of the decedent, a law enforcement official, a county veteran service officer, private investigators, reporters, the executor or administrator of the decedent’s estate, or an attorney of that individual, an agent under a decedent’s power of attorney, any person who is authorized by law to act on behalf of the decedent of the decedent’s estate and a licensed funeral director.

“It is my hope that with this legislation, we can prevent other Ohio families from having to experience this terrible situation after the loss of a loved one,” Hughes said, adding that he worked with the Ohio Newspaper Association on the bill’s proposed, five-year sunset provision.

“Reporters and private investigators will commonly use death certificates in genealogical research and, in most cases, they need more information than just a name and a date of birth to do an accurate background report for an individual.”

Dennis Hetzel, ONA executive director, told members of the Senate committee the organization is pleased to have been involved in crafting the proposed legislation.

“It is the clear intent of our laws on open records that records are presumptively open and only should be closed to citizens when there are extenuating circumstances, and even those circumstances should be applied narrowly, so that is the balance we are seeking here,” he said.

“Regarding the matter at hand, the need for complete information on death certificates is not confined to investigative journalism. This is clear to anyone who has engaged in genealogical research, had need of a private investigator, performs serious historical work or engaged in many other pursuits. I can speak to that on a personal note as an adopted child.”

Hetzel said one of the most significant pieces of data on any death certificate is the decedent’s social security number because it has the potential to unlock information that other pieces of data cannot.

“By the same token, Sen. Hughes’ personal experience that he recounted of his father’s identity being stolen after death is, sadly, not unique,” he said, referencing an AARP article that indicated as many as 800,000 deceased individuals are annually targeted for identity theft.

“As is often the case with legislation that would restrict access to public records, the anecdotal possibilities of something bad happening have to be weighed against the presumption of openness that should attach to public records and the value of having this information available.”

Hetzel said the sunset provision outlined in SB 61 strikes a good balance.

“The record would become presumptively open after five years, which should be more than enough time for any identity theft potential related to usage of the death certificate to be difficult if not impossible,” he said.

“Meanwhile, those wishing to make use of the certificate will have access to all the information this public record contains.”

In addition to the ONA, SB 61 has been endorsed by the Ohio Funeral Directors Association.

The proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. John Eklund, Tom Patton and Bill Seitz.

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