Relationships on Death Certificates

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borderline
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Relationships on Death Certificates

Post by borderline »

I'm trying to read a notation on a death record, but unfortunately don't have the image to post.

The question is, on the death record, they will put the name of the deceased and then for example they will mention that they are the esposo of ***. What other possible relationships will they put down besides spouses?
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liviomoreno
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Re: Relationships on Death Certificates

Post by liviomoreno »

Father and mother.
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jwazevedo
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Re: Relationships on Death Certificates

Post by jwazevedo »

To expand a bit on Livio's to-the-point answer, most of the death records I've seen (these are from the Como region) are laid out this way:
Year
Day of month
Month
Hour and minute of record
Official's name and title
Name of comune
Name of informant 1
Age, occupation, and residence of informant 1
Ditto for informant 2
Time and date of death
Place of death
Name of decedent
Age of decedent
Residence of decedent
Birthplace of decedent
Name, occupation, and residence of father (sometimes with father's father's name)
Name, occupation, and residence of mother
Marital status of decedent (and, if married/widowed, name of spouse)
Names, ages, and occupations of the two witnesses

Best,
Jerry
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borderline
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Re: Relationships on Death Certificates

Post by borderline »

Yes, thanks. I know on the forms I have seen they have official spaces for the father and mother, but after the handwritten name of the deceased, they sometimes put "spouse of...".

Thanks.
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Re: Relationships on Death Certificates

Post by jwazevedo »

In the pre-printed versions of the forms I've seen from Como, the footnote for the blank space after the mother's info instructs the official to insert either "widow(er)", "husband/wife", or "unmarried". This footnote is at the bottom of the pre-printed forms. I believe in practice the official generally includes the name of the spouse, if married/widowed, though it's not specifically called for on the form. It might be related to how the official was trained or interprets that footnote. It's great information to have, since the spouse can be the essential clue to distinguishing between two people of the same name.

Best,
Jerry
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