Mich. Admin. Code R. 325.3221 - Delayed registration of death; application; establishment; evidence; review of application and evidence; dismissal or denial of application; preparation and filing of registration; rescission of registration

Rule 21.

(1) A next of kin of a deceased individual, the individual responsible for the medical certification of death, or the individual responsible for disposing of the deceased's body who has received an official notice from the state registrar that the death is not recorded in the office of a local registrar, or the state registrar may establish a delayed registration of death if the date of application is more than 1 year after the date the individual was pronounced dead.
(2) An application must be made on a form prescribed by the state registrar, set forth the minimum facts prescribed in subrule (3) of this rule, and be sworn to by the applicant before an official authorized to administer oaths.
(3) The minimum facts to be established are as follows:
(a) The full name of the deceased at the time of death.
(b) The sex of the deceased.
(c) The date and place of death.
(d) The manner and cause of death as determined by a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state and the name and address of the physician.
(e) The date, place, and method of disposition of the body as recorded by an individual authorized by law to dispose of a dead body and that individual's name and address.
(4) The application must be accompanied by the fee prescribed by law and documentary evidence prescribed by these rules.
(5) Documents submitted in support of a request to establish a delayed registration of death that contain signs of erasure, alterations, or changes to the pertinent information must not be accepted.
(6) The facts prescribed in subrule (3) of this rule must be supported by either of the following:
(a) A copy of pertinent medical records for the deceased or an affidavit by a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state that sets forth all the following:
(i) The full name of the deceased.
(ii) The date and place of death.
(iii) The manner of death.
(iv) The cause of death.
(v) The physician's address.
(b) An affidavit by an individual authorized by law to dispose of a dead body that sets forth all the following:
(i) The full name of the deceased.
(ii) The date, place, and method of disposal of the body.
(iii) The address of the individual disposing of the body.
(iv) Other personal facts identified on the application form that may be known to the affiant or copies of documents that support the facts.
(c) In all cases the affiant shall swear that the facts provided are based on pertinent records concerning the deceased that are in the possession of the affiant.
(7) The state registrar must review each application and the evidence submitted in support of the application. When the documentary evidence is insufficient to support the requested change, the state registrar may require the submission of additional documentary evidence. The state registrar shall dismiss an application when additional evidence requested or the required fee is not received within 1 year after the request for the additional evidence or fee. When an application is dismissed, the state registrar shall send a written notice of dismissal to the applicant. The application fee submitted must be retained. The state registrar shall deny an application when the applicant is not eligible to apply or when the applicant cannot provide satisfactory documentary evidence in support of the application. When an application is denied, a written notice of denial must be forwarded to the applicant indicating the reason for the denial. The application fee submitted must be retained, except when the applicant is not eligible to apply.
(8) If, after review of the application and the evidence, the state registrar is satisfied that the evidence supports the request, the state registrar shall prepare a delayed registration of death on a form prescribed by the state registrar and place the record in the active files of the system of vital statistics. A delayed registration of death must be marked "delayed." A copy of the delayed registration of death must be forwarded to the local registrar for the area where the death occurred.
(9) If the state registrar becomes aware that a delayed registration of death record prepared by the state registrar is invalid or that the evidence received in support of the delayed registration of death is false or invalid, the delayed registration of death must be rescinded. The state registrar must notify the local registrar of the rescission of the record and instruct the local registrar to remove the record from the files.

Notes

Mich. Admin. Code R. 325.3221
1981 AACS; 2025 MR 9, Eff. 4/30/2025

State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.