Question: Long story short, I need a copy of a death certificate and don’t want to ask the immediate survivors for it. Do you have to be a close relative to get one?
Answer: No, but you must have a “direct and tangible interest” in obtaining a certified copy of any vital record, according to the state Department of Health. The department’s Office of Health Status Monitoring maintains vital records for births, deaths, civil unions, marriages and some divorces that occurred in Hawaii.
According to the department, people who meet the threshold to be issued vital records include:
>> The registrant, or the person the record is about (which wouldn’t apply with a death certificate, obviously).
>> Registrant’s spouse, parent(s), descendants (such as a child or grandchild) or a person having a common ancestor (such as a sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin).
>> Registrant’s legal guardian.
>> Person or agency acting on behalf of the registrant or the registrant’s estate.
>> Person with a court order establishing a right to obtain the record.
>> Adoptive parents who have filed a petition for adoption and need to determine the death of the child’s natural or legal parent(s).
>> Person who needs to know the marital status of a former spouse to determine alimony.
>> Person who needs to determine the death of a nonrelated co-owner of property purchased under a joint tenancy agreement.
>> Person who needs a death certificate to determine payments under a credit insurance policy.
Q: I missed this year’s book sale at McKinley High School. Is there somewhere I can drop off books for next year’s sale?
A: Yes, you may donate them to the Friends of the Library of Hawaii, the nonprofit group that helps support public libraries with the annual sale at McKinley and other fundraising events.
Find the Friends at 99-1132 Iwaena St. in Aiea. They welcome drop-offs Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Enter the yard on the mauka side of the building.
Alternatively, you may be able to leave the books at your local public library. Many branches accept donations on the Friends’ behalf; call ahead to make sure that’s true in your neighborhood.
For more information, call the Friends at 536-4174 or check online at 808ne.ws/FotLoH.
A note of gratitude
Readers have been filled with gratitude this summer, which means that Kokua Line’s inbox and mailbox are overflowing with mahalos. We’ll never catch up if we limit ourselves to publishing one a day, so for the next week or so we’ll print a few at a time. Also, since several readers have asked: We do try to publish all the mahalos we receive, as long as they are legible and brief. The longer they are, the less likely we’ll be able to fit them.
Mahalo
I want to say thanks so much to Victor and his crew — Nathan, Reyn and Nalu — for taking care of a sewage problem Sept. 2. They went beyond the call. The Board of Water Supply should be proud of these workers. — Grateful couple in Waipahu
Mahalo
On Sept. 6 at the Market City Foodland, I was in line to pay for my groceries when the cashier told me that the lady before me had already paid for my groceries for me. I was so surprised! I ran out to thank her but missed seeing her. I would like to say, “My dear sweet lady, mahalo and bless you for the kindness shown me.” — From a grateful senior
Mahalo
Although it’s quite belated, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Sean Wong, principal, and the Roosevelt High School staff for the efficient and caring way in which they accommodated all of us in wheelchairs during the commencement exercise. I sincerely appreciate it. — Much mahalo, a senior in a wheelchair
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
