Section 5-C:94 Amendments and Corrections to a Death Record.
I. When a request is made to change any of the death record information completed by the funeral director, next of kin or designated agent, the following procedure shall apply. If the request is made by the original informant, the original informant shall sign and complete the appropriate correction form as described in RSA 5-C:85 and submit the correction form and any documentation to substantiate the requested changes to the clerk of the town or city. If the requestor is not the original informant, then the original informant shall be notified of the request for changes to the death record by the clerk of the town or city of death occurrence, the requestor shall sign and complete the correction form as described in RSA 5-C:85, and, if possible, the clerk of the town or city shall attach to the correction form a notarized statement from the original informant approving the proposed changes. If the original informant does not approve of the proposed changes, he or she shall submit evidence as to why the requested change should not be made. If it is not possible to make contact with the original informant, a notarized statement shall be prepared by the clerk of the town or city and attached to the correction request, which contains a detailed explanation that an attempt was made to reach the original informant but the efforts were unsuccessful. In either case, the state registrar shall review the evidence submitted for completeness and, if complete, indicate approval by signing the request. If the request for change is being made by the funeral director who completed the death record due to an error made by him or her, the funeral director shall complete and sign a correction form and submit it to the clerk of the town or city of death occurrence. The change shall be made upon receipt of the correction form by the clerk of the town or city who shall submit a copy to the division.
II. The certifying physician or APRN shall initiate corrections concerning the cause of death, in writing, to the division, by signing and completing the supplemental death certificate as described in RSA 5-C:62.
III. The correction authorization from the physician or APRN shall be retained by the division in accordance with the retention schedule for a death record as established by this chapter. The death record shall be amended and noted as being amended.
IV. In the case where the division queries the physician or APRN concerning the cause of death, the physician or APRN shall send notice of the change in the cause of death directly to the division.
V. The physician's or APRN's information concerning a change in the cause of death shall be retained by the division in accordance with the retention schedule for a death record established by this chapter. The death record shall be amended and noted as being amended.
VI. The funeral director, next of kin, or designated agent shall initiate corrections concerning burial arrangements information with the clerk of the city or town where the death occurred. The division shall be notified by the clerk of these corrections by the appropriate form as described in RSA 5-C:85.
VII. When the clerk of the town or city of death occurrence discovers information known to be incorrect because of inconsistencies with other records, he or she shall confirm the correct information, if possible, with the parties concerned, and shall notify the division of the inconsistencies. If the correction is to be made 6 months after the original death record was filed, the clerk shall obtain the approval of the state registrar before the vital event record is amended.
VIII. The state registrar shall approve the correction request if a review of the documentation submitted shows that the information required to render a decision is complete and the documentation submitted substantiates that the information contained on the current record is incorrect.
Source. 2005, 268:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006. 2007, 215:13, eff. June 25, 2007. 2009, 54:4, eff. July 21, 2009.