Counties Ration Death Certificates After Paper Company Closes

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Some California counties are rationing birth and death certificates as the company that produced the special paper used for them recently shut down.

CBS2's Orange County reporter Michele Gile reports on the shortage and how long it's expected to continue.

Nancy King of Laguna Woods is trying to get 15 copies of her brother-in-law's death certificate to try to settle his affairs, but the mortuary told her the Orange County health agency is low on official banknote paper that has security features embedded in it. So, she'll have to settle for one copy.

"Every financial institution that you deal with will want a certified copy. ... It's no way to run a business," King said of the shortage.

The Ohio company that supplies the paper closed more than a month ago without warning, and since then, counties across the state have been forced to limit official copies of vital records.

Orange County said it expects a new shipment of the special paper by mid-November. In the meantime, requests for certified recordings of births and deaths can be made to the state, and those are being processed within three weeks, Gile learned.

As for other local counties, Los Angeles County recommends limiting requests for documents to five copies. Riverside County will issue three certificates, while Ventura County says it has an ample supply of the paper. San Bernardino County has not responded to paper availability there.