Is there a way to get an authorized death certificate if you are an ex-wife for someone who died in CA.

There are multiple possibilities in how to accomplish this in California. First of all will the insurance company accept an informational certified copy as per Health and Safety Code 103526 (b)(1) according to the code it contains everything a certified original does including signatures but just has a legend on it? " (b) (1) If the person requesting a certified copy of a birth, death, or nonconfidential marriage record is not an authorized person or is an authorized person who is otherwise unable to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (a), the certified copy provided to the applicant shall be an informational certified copy and shall display a legend that states "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY." The legend shall be placed on the certificate in a manner that will not conceal information." Next your ex- husband's personal representative has a duty to administer his estate and that includes making sure that named beneficiaries get their bequests. A personal representative in this context means his executor or administrator ( if a probate is required) or his successor trustee ( if he had a trust). If you have any idea who his personal representative is you could contact them and they should be able to request a certified copy of the death certificate. Although there may not be direct authority I have always viewed it as a personal representatives responsibility to provide all beneficiaries of insurance policies with the death certificates they need to obtain their bequests. I would even go so far as to threaten a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against any such personal representative who refused to assist a beneficiary I represented in such a case. In all likelihood whomever is nominated as executor or successor trustee in either his will and/or trust (if he had one) is likely acting as his personal representative. If you have copies of either that would be the starting point. I would suggest a polite letter explaining the existence of the policy and a need to obtain the certificate and request them to get you one. If you don't have access to the documents you could run a name search for your husbands name in the superior court of California specific to the county he resided in. If there is a formal probate the contact information for the personal representative (ie executor or administrator) and their attorney will be a public record. In theory if he had a trust his original will is supposed to be lodged with the court's probate department. But truth be told this is seldom done if the successor trustee is handling his affairs informally especially without the assistance of an attorney. If the above does not work there are other petitions which can be filed in the probate court which would enable you to get a court order to turn over a certified copy of the death certificate. Its a stretch but I think you could use whats called an 850 petition (probate code sec. 850) to to have the insurance company turn over the bequest to you. The petition would enable you to get a certified copy of the death certificate using the California discovery act. Thus satisfying the other court order portions of Health and Safety code 103526. And if for some reason your ex husband was fortunate enough to have left an estate close to or over his unified credit amount then the personal representative will need to know about the life insurance policy to asses whether the proceeds have to be included in the gross estate for estate tax purposes. So they should be happy that you contact them.

The prior answer is thoughtful, well reasoned and thorough. Another point to add though, you need to also check to be sure you are still legally the beneficiary of the life insurance policy. Depending on where you divorced him, many states by operation of law on the divorce of a couple void any designation of the former spouse on insurance policies and other estate planning documents made prior to the dissolution of marriage. If he named you after the divorce, you may not have a problem. This is intended to be general guidance and not necessarily state specific advice. There are some concepts that are the same or similar in most jurisdictions but not all. Use the .com web site to find an attorney in your area for state specific advice. In addition to that, contact your local bar association for referral to an attorney who specializes in this or talk to friends and neighbors to ask about an attorney they have used and liked. Often, but not always, the attorney will do an initial consultation FREE OF CHARGE. You will then be in a better position to determine what to do next. Best of luck to you!