Families Left In Limbo Waiting On Death Certificates For Loved Ones
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - When Marine John Guyer died in December, his few surviving family members expected it would be a straightforward process to handle his last wishes.
A month later, however, after paying more than $10,000 in property and legal bills out of pocket, they were still waiting on a single piece of paper, Guyer's death certificate, from the state.
"There were a lot of all-cap texts back and forth," said Jody Kirk. "You know the texts, 'What is going on? How hard could this be?!' "
Without a death certificate, the Kirk's couldn't execute Guyer's will, access insurance and accounts, or even stop renewal of old subscriptions.
They were one of hundreds of families caught in the launch of the new Texas centralized vital records system called TxEVER. CBS 11 News reported in January on funeral directors, medical examiners and county clerks who have complained about errors, glitches and delays in a system they say was not ready to launch. The system has also led to difficulties getting copies of birth certificates in some instances.
A state audit was critical of TxEVER in early 2018, before it ever launched.
Auditors found the Health and Human Service Commission "…did not verify the qualifications and experience" of vendors. Changes in the scope of work increased estimated overall project costs more than $10 million. The launch date was also delayed by a year, until Jan. 1 2019.
Thursday, the Department of State Health Services said more than 58,000 records had been started since the system launched, and more than 70 percent of them had been completed.
DSHS was not able to estimate how long records were taking to complete, because of multiple steps required of funeral directors, doctors and local registrars.
It is currently taking more than 29 days though to mail out a completed record. That's up from 18 days in the 2018 financial year.
The department pointed out it has three fewer staffers than it did two years ago, who are handling almost 200,000 more requests than at that time.
DSHS continues to hold daily conference calls, web training seminars, and instructions for local users still having difficulties with everything from logging in to printing.
It is directing funeral directors to Authority to Cremate and Report of Death forms to allow cremations before the death certificate is available. It's also allowing clerks to use old bank note paper to print out records, without their names on it, to avoid delays waiting for new paper stock.
Betsy Kirk, said beyond the financial drain, the daily pursuit of the certificate added stress to the situation.
"It was a little bit of a reminder every time you pick up the phone, that this isn't done," she said. "I still have to relive it a little bit each time."
This week, their funeral director was finally able to obtain a copy of the certificate from Tarrant County.
Kirk said when she got the call, she left work immediately to pick it up in person.
Now the wait begins again, they learned, with six weeks before they can get into probate court to handle the estate.
"I feel really bad for the people who still don't have them," Jody Kirk said. "There's no telling how many people are still waiting for these, and just don't have the resources to pay these bills."