A.
The New Providence Board of Health shall appoint a local
registrar of vital statistics. Immediately after a local registrar is appointed,
the Secretary of the Board should send certification to the State Department.
The appointment becomes effective thirty days from the date of filing of the
certificate unless approved sooner in writing. If, within the thirty days
the department disapproves of the appointment, the office shall be deemed
vacant. Any vacancy occurring in the office of the local registrar shall be
filled within 10 days in the same manner as an original appointment but for
the unexpired term only.
B.
The local registrar, immediately upon accepting the appointment,
shall appoint a deputy registrar to assist in the normal day-to-day operation
of the office and to act in the registrar's place in case of absence,
disability or death. In addition, the Local Registrar may appoint one or two
alternate deputy registrars if it is deemed necessary for the office to function
efficiently and to provide quality service to the public. Before assuming
their duties, the local registrar, deputy registrar and alternate deputy registrar
must take an oath to perform the duties of the office to be filed within ten
days after appointment. No physician, midwife or funeral director shall be
appointed local registrar.
(1)
The deputy registrar and alternate deputy registrar shall
receive instruction from and perform their duties under the direct supervision
of the registrar who shall be the final authority with the responsibility
of fulfilling the duties of the local registrar as outlined in the statutes.
The local registrar, under the supervision and direction of the state
registrar, has the following duties:
A.
Strictly and thoroughly enforce the laws relative to
the disposal of dead bodies and the registration of vital records.
B.
Supply blank forms or certificates supplied by the state
registrar as required.
C.
Supply to every physician, midwife and funeral director
a copy of the law relative to the registration of vital records and the disposal
of dead bodies, together with such rules and regulations prepared by the state
registrar relative to enforcement.
D.
The registrar must sign his/her name and insert the date
of filing in the spaces provided on each certificate accepted by his/her office.
E.
The registrar must examine each certificate of birth,
death and marriage to determine its completeness and if in conformance with
the rules and regulations of the state registrar. The registrar has the legal
right to refuse certificates for filing that are incomplete or otherwise unacceptable.
F.
The second copy of the carbonized form of each certificate
shall serve as the local, permanent copy of the certificate.
G.
By the 10th of each month, the local registrar is required
to transmit to the state registrar all original birth, death and marriage
certificates filed for the preceding month. Major hospital communities are
required to send in certificates by the 10th of each month and again by the
25th of each month.
H.
Hospital registrars where birth certificates are transmitted
to Trenton, New Jersey electronically must mail the hard copy to Trenton,
New Jersey to reach the State Registrar by Friday of each week.
I.
A local registrar is to make an immediate report to the
State Registrar of any violation of the statutes coming to his/her municipality.
Resident copies of certificates must be forwarded within five days of an event.
A.
Responsibility for filing.
(1)
The physician or midwife in attendance at the birth is
responsible for filing a complete, accurate and legible certificate within
five days of the birth in the municipality in which the birth occurred. If
no physician, midwife or other person was in attendance, the parents are responsible
for filing a birth certificate.
(2)
The physician or attendant signs the front of the certificate,
which can be either handwritten or electronically transmitted. The registrar
must also sign the certificate and stamp in the date the certificate was received.
B.
Completion of birth certificate.
(1)
The designation of a child's name, including the
surname, is the right of the child's parent(s). The child may be given
any chosen name(s) or surname acceptable to the State Registrar. The chosen
name is then printed on the back of the birth record, which is then signed
by one or both parent(s). The parents have five days from the child's
birth to decide the child's surname.
(2)
Other items to be completed are date of birth, sex, birth
order, place of birth, birth mother's maiden name, resident of mother,
father's information and blood type. Certification must be completed
by the person who attended the mother at the time of birth. Physicians or
midwives will sign most certifications. If "other" is checked, a title should
be given, such as R.N., E.M.T., Police Officer, Father, etc.
(3)
The State Registrar must establish a certified birth
certificate for a child of unknown parentage (foundlings) and those born outside
of the United States.
C.
Issuance of birth certificate.
(1)
There are three types of certificates that may be issued:
(a)
Short form (one-line copy) that will show the child's
name, sex, date, date of birth and file date. If the record has been corrected/amended,
that date will be shown; also the registrar's signature and the issue
date;
(b)
The two-line copy shows the child's name, sex, date,
place of birth, file date, the amended date if the record has been corrected/amended,
the registrar's signature and issue date; also, the father's full
name and the mother's full maiden name;
(c)
Full copy, all of the birth certificate (excluding the
confidential section) is issued and certified.
(2)
All certified birth certificates are issued on safety
paper and should be embossed with the municipal seal for vital statistics.
A.
Application. If the female is a resident of New Jersey,
the application is made in the municipality in which she is a legal resident;
if the female is not a resident of New Jersey but the male is, the application
is made in the municipality where he resides. If neither are residents of
New Jersey, the application is to be made in the municipality where the marriage
is to be performed and is only valid in that municipality. There is a seventy-two-hour
waiting period (business days) between applying for the license and when the
marriage license is issued. In the event of an emergency, all or any part
of the seventy-two-hour waiting period may be waived by order of a Judge of
the County Court in which the parties have applied. If either party was previously
married, the appropriate documentation must be submitted (divorce decree or
death certificate) at the time the application is taken. One witness, at least
18 years of age, is required to be present at the time of the application.
B.
Parental/judicial consents.
C.
Premarital blood tests. Blood tests for both applicants
are no longer necessary before a marriage license may be issued.
D.
Marriage license and marriage certificate.
(1)
The licensing officer completes the marriage license
with information obtained on the application and signs in the appropriate
space. The couple is given the license to be delivered to the person who will
perform the marriage. The marriage license is valid only in the State of New
Jersey and expires 30 days after issuance; no license should be used after
the expiration date. The officiant is responsible for either typing or neatly
printing, in ink, the place and date of the marriage on the marriage license
and inserting his/her name, title and address, and also signing, in ink, his/her
name. Two witnesses to the marriage must also sign their names, along with
their respective addresses.
(2)
Within five days of solemnizing a marriage, the officiant
is responsible for sending the marriage license to the registrar of the municipality
where the marriage took place. Certified copies of the certificate of marriage
may then be obtained in that municipality at the fee established by that municipality.
A.
Responsibility for filing. The funeral director is responsible
for the proper execution of the certificate recording information obtained
from the informant, executor, attorney, etc., and its subsequent filing for
the purpose of obtaining a burial permit. The funeral director can file in
either of the three following locations: the municipality where the death
occurred; the municipality in which the funeral director has his funeral home;
or where the burial, cremation or removal is to take place. Death certificates
are issued by either of the aforementioned municipalities within the first
24 hours of filing; after that time the municipality in which the death occurred
may only issue certified copies of death certificates.
B.
Burial permit/disinterment and transit permit.
(1)
A burial permit is issued only when a completed death
certificate is presented and accepted for filing. If the death certificate
is not acceptable, the burial permit can be issued but no certified copies
of the death certificate can be issued until the certificate has been corrected
or a new one filed.
(2)
The disinterment application and permit are all in one
unit and are completed and filed in the location where the deceased is interred.
Written consent of the owner of the interment space is required, as is that
of the surviving spouse and all children of legal age. After the funeral director
and cemetery representative have completed their sections, the permit is signed
by the issuing registrar and sealed with the municipal seal for vital statistics.
Copies of the four part-form are distributed as follows: Part 1 accompanies
the disinterred body to the cemetery from which the body is being removed;
Part 2 acts as the disinterment permit; Part 3 is retained by the registrar
who issued the permit and Part 4 is for the funeral director's records.
C.
Certified copies of death certificates and affidavits
for listing cause of death. Anyone may request a certified copy of a death
certificate by supplying the name of the decedent and the date of death. The
general public would receive a short form with no cause of death listed. Anyone
wishing to obtain a full certified copy of the death certificate, including
the cause of death, would have to meet the criteria specified in N.J.S.A.
8:2-1-2 which includes filing and signing an affidavit. Generally, only the
following are permitted to file an affidavit requesting the cause of death
be listed: surviving spouse or caretaking partner, executor or administrator
of the estate or any other authorized member of the family, etc.
D.
Fetal deaths. Fetal death certificates are completed
in the same manner as death certificates. The medical questions on the fetal
death certificate are important and must be completed and recorded properly
by the funeral director.
The registrar or deputy may take civil action through the municipal
court as prescribed in N.J.S.A. 26:8-69.
