What must every death certificate include regarding the decedent?

A death certificate is a vital legal document that serves to officially record the details surrounding a person's death. Among the essential pieces of information that must be included on a death certificate, the Social Security number is significant because it is used for a variety of legal and administrative purposes.

Having the Social Security number on the death certificate helps facilitate the processing of benefits for survivors, assists in the identification of the deceased for federal and state agencies, and ensures accurate record-keeping with the Social Security Administration. It helps to prevent identity theft and issues arising from conflicting claims related to the decedent's estate.

The inclusion of a driver's license number, birth certificate number, or passport number is not standard practice for death certificates since these identifiers are more specific to individual identity and documentation, rather than being uniformly required for all death certificates. The Social Security number serves a broader purpose in the context of death records, especially regarding the deceased's legal status and the effects on their beneficiaries.