Oregon Center for Health Statistics

Death Record Registration Without a Funeral Director

How to Register a Death Record Without a Licensed Oregon Funeral Director

If a person has recently died and the family does not want to engage the services of a licensed funeral director, they may complete the arrangements themselves if they do not accept payment for these services. Part of the responsibility of acting as a funeral service practitioner is to report the death to the Center for Health Statistics (CHS). This is required by law and is done by requesting a Death Record Registration Packet and submitting the required forms from the packet to CHS. Previously this packet was referred to as the Home Burial Packet, but arrangements can include home burials and burials at cemeteries.

For more information see Oregon Revised Statutes 432.005(30), 432.075 and 432.133(2)(a).

Reporting a death when there is no funeral director:

Is required by law
Must be done without delay (within five days ideally)
Establishes a death record so that death certificates can be purchased

Requesting a Death Record Registration Packet

To request a Death Record Registration Packet, please email CHS.Registration@oha.oregon.gov or call 971-673-1180

When making your request please include the following:

Name of the decedent (deceased person)
Decedent's date of birth and date of death (if known)
Contact name and phone number for follow-up correspondence
Your relationship to the decedent
Mailing address where the Death Record Registration Packet should be sent, and the name of the recipient if it is being requested for someone else
Address of the intended burial site and name of the cemetery (if applicable)

Triplicate Paper Report of Death (Form 45-2)

The Report of Death is the official form used to report a death in Oregon. It is a legal document that records key details about the decedent including the date, place, and cause of death along with other vital information needed for both legal and statistical purposes. Once a Report of Death is submitted to CHS and approved, it becomes the registered death record. Death certificates are a copy of the registered death record on special secure paper and are used as proof of death and for resolving business and legal affairs of the decedent.

Attached at the bottom of the Report of Death is the Disposition and Transit Permit, which authorizes transportation of the body for final disposition (such as burial).

Instructions for completing the Report of Death

Metal Burial Tag (also known as ID Tag or metal disc)

The metal burial tag is required by ORS 692.405 and must be securely attached to the receptacle containing human remains. Each tag bears a unique number that links the remains to the official death record. This tag is important because it provides a permanent means of identification, ensuring that the burial can always be verified and accurately associated with the correct death record, even many years later.

Supplemental Report on Veteran status

This form is completed when the decedent was a Veteran and identifies any combat zones they served in.

Death certificate order form

This form is optional. An order form is included for your convenience if you would like to order death certificates once the Report of Death is registered. To learn more about your options for ordering death certificates and requirements, visit our website at https://bit.ly/ORDeath or call 971-673-1190.

Business reply envelope

The Death Record Registration Packet is requested from CHS and mailed to the person who will be acting as the funeral service practitioner. They complete their portion of the Report of Death and other forms and provide the Report of Death to the person who will be completing medical certification. The medical certifier completes the medical information on the Report of Death. The person acting as funeral service practitioner sends the complete Report of Death and any other necessary forms such as the Supplemental Report on Veteran Status to CHS.

Once received, CHS staff review the Report of Death and if it meets legal requirements, the information from the Report of Death is registered in the electronic vital records system (OVERS) and becomes the official death record. Death certificates can then be ordered.

Yes. If death is expected to occur soon, CHS staff will send you the full Death Record Registration Packet. Otherwise, we will send information about what data is collected for the death record to assist with longer term planning.

The Death Record Registration Packet isn't available online because some of the required items must be assigned to a decedent and physically sent, such as the metal burial tag and the triplicate Report of Death form. This also allows CHS to make sure that a Report of Death is received for the decedent.

The person acting as funeral service practitioner will complete the personal information section of the Report of Death (items #1-40) and sign as funeral director (item #40). Personal information includes demographic information such as the deceased person's name, date and place of birth, family relationships, occupation, and race. For more information about completing the personal information of the Report of Death, guides are available under the “Death Record Instructions" heading of the Funeral Director web page.

The Medical Information section of the Report of Death must be completed and signed by the medical certifier. The medical certifier is the licensed medical professional who was the primary or attending medical professional who oversaw the care of the patient for the illness or condition that resulted in death. Medical certifiers can be licensed in Oregon, Washington, Idaho or California. To certify, they must be a Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), Naturopathic Doctor (ND), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Physician Associate (PA) or in certain circumstances a Medical Examiner. They will complete items #46–68 on the Report of Death. The person acting as the funeral service practitioner is responsible to get the Report of Death to the medical certifier for them to complete it. For more information about medical certification of death see the Oregon Medical Board's webpage on Medical Certification of Death.

Note – Medical certifiers are typically required to report deaths electronically rather than on a paper form, but when there is an acting funeral service practitioner they are allowed to complete the paper Report of Death.

Death certificates cannot be ordered until a Report of Death has been filed, reviewed, and registered in the electronic vital records system (OVERS).

Once the Report of Death is registered, you may also order death certificates from the county where the death occurred for 6 months from the date of death or from the Center for Health Statistics at any time. A death certificate order form is included in the Death Record Registration Packet for convenience. If you order certificates, be sure to include certificate fees, a copy of your ID, and evidence of your eligible relation, if required. To learn more about your options for ordering death certificates and requirements, visit https://bit.ly/ORDeath or call 971-673-1190.

Note: Information from the Report of Death is used to create the official death record. Death certificates are copies of the death record on file, printed on special secure paper. However, the Report of Death is not itself a death certificate and cannot be used in place of a death certificate.

These instructions are limited to filing the Report of Death. Acting funeral directors are responsible for following all city, county, state, and federal laws related to handling, transporting, and disposition of the decedent.

CHS does not have the authority to determine whether a burial location is legally permitted and cannot provide guidance on local zoning or burial requirements. Families should contact their local planning commission or other appropriate local authority for questions about whether a specific burial location is allowed.

For additional information, you may also refer to the Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board (OMCB) fact sheet: Burial of Human Remains on Private Property.

We recommend waiting until you receive the Death Record Registration Packet and metal burial tag before proceeding with disposition. However, we understand that certain circumstances, such as religious or cultural practices, may require burial to occur within 24 hours of death.

If disposition must take place before the packet arrives, we strongly recommend first making arrangements with an eligible medical certifier and confirming that they are willing and able to complete the medical certification of the death certificate. Once you receive the Death Record Registration Packet, place the metal ID tag in the ground near the remains at the burial site.

For any questions regarding the Death Record Registration Packet, please email CHS.Registration@oha.oregon.gov or leave a voicemail at 971-673-1180.