ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1799
State of Washington
66th Legislature
2019 Regular Session
ByHouse Health Care & Wellness (originally sponsored by Representatives Hoff, Wylie, Corry, Sutherland, Vick, Paul, Smith, and Goodman)
READ FIRST TIME 02/22/19.
AN ACT Relating to developing a short form for death certificates; and amending RCW 70.58.082.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 70.58.082 and 2005 c 365 s 152 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) No person may prepare or issue any vital record that purports to be an original, certified copy, or copy of a vital record except as authorized in this chapter.
(2)(a) The department shall adopt rules providing for the release of paper or electronic copies of vital records that include adequate standards for security and confidentiality, ensure the proper record is identified, and prevent fraudulent use of records. All certified copies of vital records in the state must be on paper and in a format provided and approved by the department and must include security features to deter the alteration, counterfeiting, duplication, or simulation without ready detection.
(b) The state or local registrar may issue a short form certification of death that does not display information relating to cause and manner of death, names of the decedent's parents, or social security numbers to a qualified applicant. A qualified applicant for a short form certification of death includes any of the following:
(i) The decedent's spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, stepparent, stepchild, sibling, grandparent, great grandparent, grandchild, legal guardian immediately prior to death, legal representative, authorized representative, or next of kin as specified in RCW 11.28.120;
(ii) A funeral director, the funeral establishment licensed pursuant to chapter 18.39 RCW, or the person having the right to control the disposition of the human remains under RCW 68.50.160 named on the death record, within twelve months of the date of death;
(iii) A title insurer or title insurance agent handling a transaction involving real property in which the decedent held some right, title, or interest; or
(iv) A person that demonstrates that the certified copy is necessary for a determination related to the death or the protection of a personal or property right related to the death.
(3) Federal, state, and local governmental agencies may, upon request and with submission of the appropriate fee, be furnished copies of vital records if the vital record will be used for the agencies' official duties. The department may enter into agreements with offices of vital statistics outside the state for the transmission of copies of vital records to those offices when the vital records relate to residents of those jurisdictions and receipt of copies of vital records from those offices. The agreement must specify the statistical and administrative purposes for which the vital records may be used and must provide instructions for the proper retention and disposition of the copies. Copies of vital records that are received by the department from other offices of vital statistics outside the state must be handled as provided under the agreements.
(4) The department may disclose information that may identify any person named in any birth certificate (([vital]))vital record for research purposes as provided under chapter 42.48 RCW.
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