A network of Riveros Corp
A network of Riveros Corp
Avoid bureaucratic rejections and critical delays at the worst possible moment. We handle your death certificate request end to end: the preparation of the forms and the mandatory notarization of the affidavits that release confidential records, such as Florida’s DH 1959 Affidavit. In addition, we guide the international legalization and the tracked delivery. With sensitivity, speed and confidentiality, from our office in Brickell, Miami.
File review and first reply within 24 business hours.
Commissioned Florida Notary Public · Document Preparers (nonlawyers) · Fully bilingual Spanish · English · In person in Brickell or online (RON)
Florida Notary Public commissioned by the Governor of Florida under Chapter 117 of the Florida Statutes.
Technical review of eligibility and documentation before you pay any non-refundable state fee.
Strict protocols over your personal information (PII) and protected health information (PHI): minimum access, zero commercialization.
Legalization guidance for use abroad and delivery by tracked courier to your country.
The medical cause of death is a confidential record protected by law for 50 years. Life insurance companies and banks require precisely that version — and the state does not release it without strict proof of eligibility.
Estates, wills, bank accounts, Social Security benefits and repatriations all run on their own deadlines, while you face technical forms in English at the least opportune moment.
You live in another state or outside the U.S. Perhaps a funeral home, a representative or a relative by marriage must act for you. For that, the law requires a rigorously notarized affidavit of authorization.
A misspelled detail, an unauthenticated identity or the wrong county form sends the application back weeks later — with the search fee already retained by the state.
A death certificate is the vital record that officially attests to a person’s death in the United States. Moreover, it is not a simple piece of paper. Instead, it is the essential legal instrument for opening probate proceedings, validating wills, claiming life insurance policies, applying for Social Security benefits and authorizing the repatriation of remains. It is a document held exclusively in government custody. Only the agency that keeps the original record may issue certified copies. In Florida that is the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health and its county offices. No private official can issue them.
The law further classifies it into two versions, with very different levels of access. The certificate WITHOUT cause of death is a public record. The certificate WITH cause of death carries confidential medical information. State statutes — such as Chapter 382 of the Florida Statutes — protect it during the first 50 years after the death. Our value lies in directing your application to the correct version and the correct office, proving your eligibility and notarizing the affidavits that release the record.
Obtaining a death certificate, particularly a record containing the confidential cause of death, requires navigating state privacy laws rigorously. Health departments impose inflexible identification requirements. When a third party handles the process, or when you request it remotely, they also require notarized affidavits. In Florida that means the Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information, Form DH 1959. At Notary Public Center, a private entity of Riveros International Business Corp operating from Brickell, Miami, we are not a government agency: we are private specialists in document compliance. We audit your eligibility before sending any application. Then we prepare and notarize the authorizations the law requires. We file the case with the correct vital statistics office. Finally, we coordinate international legalization and secure shipping, so you can focus on your family.
The law classifies death certificates into two categories according to the privacy level of the medical information they contain — a critical factor that determines who may request them and how complex the process becomes.
Information about the medical cause of death — including underlying conditions and the medical examiner’s finding — is a confidential record protected by law for the 50 years following the death. It is the version that insurance companies require in order to pay life policies, and that financial institutions require in order to settle estates.
Who may request it: only the surviving spouse, the decedent’s parents, and children, grandchildren or siblings over 18. Representatives and organizations may also request it. They must present documentary evidence of their legal interest — a valid will, an insurance policy — or a court order.
Mandatory documentation: a legible copy of official photo identification (passport, driver’s license or military ID). If an authorized third party is handling the request, attaching the duly notarized Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information is unavoidable.
It legally certifies the fact of the death: the decedent’s name, date and place of death. However, it omits the medical causes. It also redacts the first five digits of the decedent’s Social Security number to prevent identity fraud.
Who may request it: any person over 18, with no need to prove kinship or legal interest.
Common uses: transfer of property titles, closing bank and utility accounts, and genealogical research.
It is in the rigidity of these requirements that we add the most value. To release the confidential certificate, vital statistics offices require photo identification from the eligible applicant. On countless occasions, however, relatives cannot apply in person for geographical reasons, or they need a funeral home, a representative or a relative by marriage to act on their behalf.
To authorize that third party, the law requires a signed Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information, Form DH 1959 in Florida. The eligible applicant signs it in the presence of a notarial officer. That officer attests to the declarant’s identity and to the validity of the attached identification. An important warning: meanwhile, attempting to obtain a confidential record under fraudulent pretenses is a third-degree felony under Chapter 382 of the Florida Statutes. For that reason we audit the eligibility of every file before submitting it. We prepare the affidavit, verify the supporting documents and perform the mandatory notarization, in person or remotely, packaging the whole procedure into a continuous service that the government does not provide.
Our commitment is to reduce administrative friction through a process structured in four phases. Encryption protocols, least-privilege access and limited retention protect your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).
Before you pay any state fee, we analyze your case. We confirm which version of the certificate you need, with or without cause. We verify that you meet the required kinship or legal interest, and we review your identification. That way the application is not lost to a rejection.
We draft the Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information (DH 1959) and the authorizations for third parties. Then we perform the mandatory notarization, in person in Brickell or by Remote Online Notarization (RON). RON adds biometric verification and KBA, and it is valid in all 50 states.
We file the application, the affidavit and the fees with the Bureau of Vital Statistics or the relevant county health department. Then we monitor the status of the process and resolve any additional requirements the authorities raise.
Your certificate may be used outside the U.S. for repatriation of remains, estates or insurance abroad. We then guide you on the apostille before the Secretary of State, or on the consular authentication chain. We also coordinate the certified translation if required, and dispatch the document by tracked courier to your door.
The operational integrity of Notary Public Center rests on complete financial transparency. Your quote sets out precisely the statutory fees required by the government, separated from our professional fees for file preparation, notarial acts and logistical handling. Each state — and each county — maintains an independent cost structure. The table below shows the items that make up your case. You receive the exact amount of each one in writing in your quote, before we start.
| Charge category | Description of the service or fee |
|---|---|
| State search fee and first copy | Official charge levied by the Bureau of Vital Statistics or the county for the record search and the issuance of the first certified copy. It is a mandatory, non-refundable government fee. |
| Additional certified copies | Government cost for each extra copy requested in the same order — advisable, because insurers, banks and courts often require originals at the same time. |
| Document preparation fees | Covers the professional service of Notary Public Center: eligibility audit, preparation of forms and affidavits, filing of the application, continuous follow-up and dedicated bilingual support. |
| Notarization of the affidavit (in person or RON) | Mandatory notarial act on the Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information (DH 1959) or on third-party authorizations, at a fee regulated by the State of Florida. |
| Apostille handling (optional) | Guidance and processing of international legalization under the Hague Convention before the relevant Secretary of State (includes the state duties for the procedure). |
| Certified translation (optional) | Certified translation of the issued certificate, when the receiving entity in the destination country requires it, coordinated within the same order. |
| Logistics and international shipping | Secure dispatch of the finished document through trackable couriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL) to protect the chain of custody of an irreplaceable document, calculated by destination. |
Procedural legal note: the vast majority of jurisdictions apply a “non-refundable search fee” policy: if the state issues a “record not found” result, the government fees are retained in compensation for the search time. Fees change without notice and vary by state and county. For that reason we do not publish amounts: we confirm the exact, current breakdown of each item in writing in your quote, before you pay anything.
You may live abroad, or in a state other than the one where the death occurred. Remote Online Notarization (RON) then lets you sign and swear the release affidavit without travelling. Florida authorized it in January 2020 under Chapter 2019-71. The session runs on encrypted audio and video, with biometric credential analysis, knowledge-based authentication (KBA) and tamper-evident recording. You sign electronically before our Florida Notary Public and your declaration takes immediate legal effect in all 50 states. Afterwards we continue the process with the government on your behalf and coordinate final delivery of the certificate — with apostille guidance if it will be used in your country.
Unlike anonymous internet portals, we offer a tangible multidisciplinary team: compliance officers, signing agents and a Florida Notary Public. Strict protocols of encryption, least-privilege access and limited retention protect your personal information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).
We understand the emotional strain of bureaucratic processing after losing a loved one. Therefore, we take on the administrative burden with empathy, speed and impenetrable confidentiality.
We work daily with vital statistics offices and county health departments. As a result, we know what each jurisdiction requires and how to avoid rejections.
We receive clients in person at 175 SW 7th St, Ste 1905, in the heart of Miami's financial district — we are not an anonymous internet portal.
Encrypted sessions with biometric verification and KBA, so you can notarize your affidavit from any country in the world.
Fully bilingual service: the process is explained in plain Spanish and the forms are completed in the technical English the government requires. We also coordinate the certified translation of the final certificate.
We separate government fees (non-refundable by law) from our professional fees — with a full written quote before we start.
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Absolutely. You have the right to contact your state’s Bureau of Vital Statistics or the county health departments directly and request your documents by paying only the applicable government fees. Our private, independent service suits those who prioritize convenience. It also suits anyone who needs the forms prepared correctly without losing time. Finally, it suits anyone who needs notarized affidavits for third parties, international legalization or urgent shipping.
The certificate WITHOUT cause of death is a public record. It attests to the legal fact of the death — name, date and place — and omits the medical details. It also redacts the first five digits of the Social Security number. Any person over 18 may request it. The certificate WITH cause of death includes the medical information about the death. It remains confidential for the first 50 years. Only eligible immediate relatives, or someone who proves a documented legal interest, may obtain it. Insurers and financial institutions usually require the version WITH cause.
Eligibility is limited to the surviving spouse, the decedent’s parents, and children, grandchildren or siblings who have reached the age of majority. Alternatively, individuals or organizations may gain access by presenting a document with evidentiary value — such as a will or an insurance policy — proving a legitimate interest in the estate, or an explicit court order. Before filing your application, we verify that you fall within one of these categories.
It is the sworn declaration that Florida law requires in two situations. The first is when an eligible applicant authorizes a third party — a funeral home, a representative or a relative by marriage — to obtain the confidential certificate. The second is when the process is handled remotely. It must be completed and signed in the presence of a notarial officer, who attests to the declarant’s identity and to the attached identification. We prepare the form, verify the supporting documents and perform the mandatory notarization, in person or by video call (RON).
The rules require a legible copy of valid official photo identification (driver’s license, passport or military ID). If you are acting on behalf of an eligible relative, you must attach the duly notarized Affidavit of Authorization (DH 1959). You also attach documentation proving the legal interest, for example the will or the insurance policy. During the initial audit we confirm the exact list for your case.
No, and be wary of anyone who offers to. Only the government agency that holds the original record — the Bureau of Vital Statistics or the county health department — has authority to issue certified copies of vital records. Our role as a private service is different. We audit your eligibility and prepare the correct application. We notarize the affidavits the government requires in order to release the document. Then we handle the process and coordinate legalization and delivery.
Timelines are set by the government and vary by state and county. As a reference, standard processing in Florida usually takes between 3 and 5 business days for deaths registered from 2009 onwards, not counting postal transit. Older records and international legalization add further weeks, depending on the workload of state offices. When we assess your case we give you a realistic estimate in writing and monitor the application until delivery, with a first reply within 24 business hours.
Yes. We obtain death certificates from any of the 50 states. We identify the competent vital records office, state or county, according to the place and year of death. Then we prepare the exact form for that jurisdiction and meet its specific identity and eligibility requirements before filing.
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. A certificate issued by a U.S. state has no automatic legal validity before foreign authorities. Repatriating remains, handling estates or claiming insurance abroad all cross borders. If the destination country is party to the Hague Convention, the certificate needs an apostille from the Secretary of State of the originating jurisdiction. We guide you through that final step, handle the procedure and coordinate the certified translation if the receiving entity requires it.
Yes. That is precisely the scenario for which the law created the release affidavit: the eligible applicant signs the authorization before a notarial officer and the designated third party becomes entitled to handle the documentation. We structure the authorization, verify the identification of both parties and perform the notarization — in person or remotely — so that the state office accepts it without objection.
The cost divides into two parts: the government fees of the issuing state or county (non-refundable by law, even if the record is not located) and our professional fees for audit, preparation, notarization and handling. Because each jurisdiction maintains its own fee structure and these change without notice, we give you the full written quote — with every item itemized — before we start. There are no hidden fees.
Handling of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) follows corporate-grade protocols: encrypted transmission, least-privilege access and limited retention. We do not store Social Security numbers perpetually and we never sell your data to third parties under any circumstances; the information is processed exclusively to complete the government application.
Yes. Our Florida Notary Public notarizes the sworn declaration by video call, through Florida-authorized Remote Online Notarization (RON). We then file the application with the state office. The final certificate — apostilled and translated if your country requires it — reaches your door by tracked courier.
Yes. The whole service is bilingual: we assist you in Spanish or English by WhatsApp, phone or at our Brickell office. Moreover, the same audit, notarization and government handling process applies to birth certificates, marriage certificates and other vital records — visit our Vital Records hub or write to us with the document you need.
This service forms part of our Vital Records hub in Miami. We also handle divorce certificates and proof of life certificates for pensions and consular procedures.
Our vital records hub: birth, marriage, death, proof of life and more.
Retrieval and notarization of your U.S. birth certificate in all 50 states.
Certified copy of your marriage certificate, with international handling.
Preparation and notarization of affidavits in Florida, in person or online (RON).
Do not risk the inheritance, the life insurance or the repatriation on a rejected form. Write to us on WhatsApp or call us: we confirm eligibility, the exact breakdown of your quote and the estimated timelines, with no obligation and in complete confidence.
175 SW 7th St, Suite 1905, Miami FL 33130 · Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00 ET · +1 305 507 8464 · info@notarypublic.center
By contacting us, you acknowledge that this business provides clerical document-preparation and Florida Notary Public services; we are not attorneys, we do not provide legal advice, and we are not a government agency.
I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, AND I MAY NOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE OR ACCEPT FEES FOR LEGAL ADVICE.
Private Entity and Non-Affiliation Notice: Notary Public Center and its parent company, Riveros International Business Corp, form a private commercial corporation dedicated to administrative handling, international legalization of documents and the provision of notarization services. We are not a government entity, court or law enforcement agency. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operating on behalf of the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the Department of Health or the Department of State. The same applies to any other vital records office of the United States or its territories.
Individuals have the absolute right to deal directly and independently with state or local health agencies. Blank vital record application forms may be obtained free of charge directly from government offices, and applications may be filed by the citizen paying only the statutory fees set by those agencies. Our fees reflect compensation for logistical expertise, identity authentication, procedural guidance and expedited handling before those entities.
Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) Disclaimer: Notary Public Center is not a law firm, and no member of our team acts as legal counsel or attorney. All of our document-preparation services are provided strictly as administrative self-help assistance, based exclusively on the specific directions and factual information supplied by the consumer. Florida law and the applicable regulations categorically prohibit us from practising law, issuing legal opinions, predicting the outcome of judicial proceedings, or advising on legal rights, strategies, defenses or the legal sufficiency of any form. Engaging our administrative services does not, under any circumstances, establish a confidential attorney–client privileged relationship. If your particular situation involves complex custody disputes, cross-border inheritance rights or legal determinations of parentage affecting vital records, consultation with an attorney duly licensed in the relevant jurisdiction is conclusively required.
Warning about fraudulent use of vital records: be advised of the legal consequences. The unauthorized, fraudulent or deceptive use of Florida vital records, or those of any other state, for unlawful purposes constitutes a third-degree felony under Chapter 382 of the Florida Statutes. All informational material presented on this page is for educational and informational purposes and must not be construed as legal or medical advice. By using our services you expressly acknowledge our nature as an independent private entity.
Third-Party Data and Technology Responsibility Policy: in accordance with applicable federal regulations, transmitting your application may involve third-party platforms. They include identity validation services such as the biometric verification and knowledge-based authentication operated by LexisNexis or Proof, formerly Notarize, and government payment gateways. While we maintain rigorous perimeter security standards, interaction with those portals is governed by the independent privacy policies and terms of service of those technology providers. Notary Public Center disclaims all non-contractual liability for incidents arising from data processing by government infrastructure or from interruptions in the availability of state services.
Limitation of services (Nonlawyer Disclosure): this business operates solely as a Legal Document Preparer and provides Florida Notary Public services. Our services consist of procedural self-help under the consumer’s specific direction. We are not licensed to practice law, cannot predict outcomes, do not explain legal options or rights, and information shared with us is not protected by attorney–client privilege.
Family law: if your matter involves Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms, the law requires us to provide the Disclosure from Nonlawyer form (Form 12.900(a)) for your signature before assisting you.
Translation of titles: in accordance with Florida Statute §117.05(11) and HB 915, this business does not translate the title “Notary Public.” We are not civil-law notaries, immigration consultants, or immigration specialists.
