9873210 wrote:Push back against people who ask for a death certificate. A huge number of places ask for one but don't actually need one, or at the very least you get no benefit from giving them one, so it's not your problem.
If you're dealing with somebody in person and they ask "Can I keep this?" just say "No." And don't let it out of your sight. Every place I dealt with got by with inspecting the original, making a photocopy and stamping and signing the copy. They only want your original to save themselves 30 seconds of work. Lazy SOBs.
In my recent experience as an executor, the information that the various financial institutions required varied enormously.
The best was a bank that was able to use the fact that I also had an account with them as proof of ID. It took just one phone call! They asked for the serial number of the death certificate and were able to look it up online. I must have had to upload a copy of the probate certificate too. Three days later, the balance had been transferred!
Other institutions required various levels of proof of ID, one involving two proofs of ID being signed by a 'professional', together with their name, address and phone number and a statement that they attested that the copy they were signing was a true copy of the original.
All the others needed the death certificate being sent to them, and these were returned. But, if one bank can access an online record, why can't they all?
Phoning the bereavement lines for banks does seem to get your call answered more quickly than the usual contact numbers. After that the call proceeds as normal, except that the agent will say 'sorry for your loss' during the call.
Watis