KYC for death

VerifyDeath by Sunset

You verify every customer when they open an account. VerifyDeath verifies them when they die. Full reports include a call to the vital records office that issued the certificate, wherever the state or county allows it, and every result comes with a confidence score.

Request pricingSee how it works

15,000+

families who have used Sunset to settle an estate

2,500+

financial institutions our users work with

SOC 2

Type II certified, with annual audits and pen testing

The problem

Anyone can make a convincing death certificate now

A forged certificate used to take real effort. Today it takes a few minutes with photo editing software or an AI image tool, and the result can get past an experienced reviewer.

The usual backstop has gaps too. Since 2011 the Death Master File has left out most deaths reported by the states, so a missing match proves very little.

We ran into both problems while helping more than 15,000 families with estate settlement. Confirming the death is part of every estate we open, so we built a process that checks more than a database can. Now we offer it to the institutions on the other side of those estates.

KYC for death

The verification you run at account opening, applied to a death

Your institution already relies on data vendors to verify who a customer is. VerifyDeath is the vendor you call when that customer dies, and each step below has a match in your KYC process.

KYC at account openingVerifyDeath when a customer dies
Verify the ID documentCertificate forensics against the state's format for that year
Confirm with an independent sourceA call to the issuing vital records office where the state or county allows it, plus a Death Master File match
Check identity dataIdentity and public records, including any deceased indicator
Look for inconsistenciesFamily members and details compared across the certificate, obituary and funeral home
Document the decisionA report with a confidence score, kept for your file

VerifyDeath gives your team evidence of a death. Decisions about the account, and how you meet your own regulatory obligations, stay with your institution.

Certificate forensics

How we examine a death certificate

We have reviewed thousands of death certificates from every state while settling estates. That library is what we compare yours against.

certificate_scan.pdfAnalysis complete · 8 of 8 passed
  1. 1
    Form and layoutForm VS-210, revised 2023. Matches the layout this state issued in 2026.
  2. 2
    State file numberFits the state's 2026 numbering pattern. Not seen on any other certificate.
  3. 3
    Dates agreeBorn March 4, 1945, died September 21, 2026. Age 81 is correct.
  4. 4
    Family namedSpouse Robert and daughter Susan both appear in the obituary as survivors.
  5. 5
    Funeral homeLicensed in the county. Confirmed it handled the service.
  6. 6
    CertifierPhysician license is active in the state.
  7. 7
    Registrar and sealRegistrar held office on the filing date. Seal is in the expected position.
  8. 8
    No edits foundFonts, spacing and image compression are consistent. No editing software in the file metadata.
Format for the state and year
Each state changes its certificate layout every few years. We check that the form and its field labels match what that state issued in the year the certificate was printed.
Registrar and signatures
We confirm the registrar named on the certificate held that office on the issue date, and that the signature appears where that state places it.
Certificate and file numbers
State file numbers follow patterns by year and jurisdiction. A number that breaks the pattern, or repeats one we have already seen, gets flagged.
Seal and security features
We look for the state's seal and the background pattern on its security paper, as far as a scan or photo shows them.
Dates that agree
Age at death has to match the dates of birth and death. The filing and issue dates have to fall after the death, within the usual timeframe for that state.
Family named on the certificate
The certificate names people such as the spouse and the informant. We check that they appear in the obituary and in public records with the right relationship to the deceased, and we flag any name that shows up nowhere else.
Details that agree across sources
Residence, place of death, age, occupation and funeral home on the certificate are compared with the obituary, the funeral home, and identity and public records. Each mismatch is listed in the report.
People and places named
We check that the funeral home and the certifying physician or medical examiner exist and work in that county.
Signs of editing
We look for text that was changed or pasted in, from mismatched fonts to uneven image compression, and we read the file's metadata for traces of editing software.
Signs of AI generation
Generated documents tend to get small details wrong, such as warped text in the fine print or a seal no state uses. We look for those mistakes.
How it works

From certificate to report

01

Send the record

Upload the death certificate and enter the deceased's name, date of birth and date of death.

02

We run the checks

Our analysts examine the certificate, call the office that issued it where the state or county allows it, and compare every detail on it against the other sources.

03

You get a report

A one-page PDF with a confidence score and the result of every check, ready for your file. Most full reports come back within 1 business day. Instant results are also available. They skip the vital records call and carry a lower confidence score.

What we check

Six checks on every full report

We run every check on each full report, including a call to the issuing office wherever the state or county allows it. Each check stands on its own, so a forger who gets past one still has to get past the rest.

Certificate forensics

We compare the certificate with the format that state used in that year, including the seal and the registrar. We also look for signs of editing and AI generation.

Vital records confirmation

On full reports, we call the state vital records office or county health department that issued the certificate, wherever that office allows it, and confirm the record exists and matches.

SSA Death Master File

We check the deceased against the Limited Access Death Master File as a certified subscriber.

Identity and public records

We cross-check the deceased's identity against identity data and public records, including any deceased indicator.

Obituary and funeral home

We find the published obituary and compare it to the certificate, down to the family members named in each. When the certificate names a funeral home, we confirm the service with them directly.

Analyst review

A person on our team reviews every result before the report goes out. Software never approves a death on its own.

The confidence score

What the score tells you

Every report carries a score from 0 to 100. It goes up with each independent source that confirms the death and drops sharply if the certificate fails forensic review.

90 to 100
Verified

The certificate passed forensic review and the death was confirmed by the issuing office or several independent sources.

70 to 89
Likely

The certificate passed review and most sources agree, but at least one check could not be completed yet.

40 to 69
Unconfirmed

No sign of forgery, but too few sources confirm the death. The report lists what is missing.

0 to 39
Flagged

The certificate shows signs of alteration, or a source contradicts it. The report explains what we found.

The report

What's in every report

One PDF per record, written so someone outside your team can follow it later.

Summary
The deceased's name, date and place of death, and a masked certificate number, with the overall result and confidence score at the top.
Result of each check
Every check we ran and what it found, including any check that could not be completed and why.
Vital records confirmation
Which office we contacted and what it confirmed, with the date.
Cross-check results
Each detail we compared across sources, such as family members and the funeral home, and whether it matched.
Forensic notes
Anything unusual about the certificate, with the part of the document it concerns.
Report ID
A unique ID your team can give us to pull the report up again or ask a follow-up question.
Compared

The most thorough death verification you can order online

Most institutions rely on a Death Master File lookup, a person looking at the certificate, or both. Neither one catches everything on its own.

DMF lookupStaff reviewVerifyDeath
Works when the death is missing from the DMFNoYes✓
Catches edited or AI-generated certificatesNoSometimes✓
Confirms with the issuing vital records office, where allowedNoNo✓
Cross-checks identity data and public recordsNoNo✓
Confidence score and a report for your fileNoNo✓
Data sources and compliance

Where our information comes from

These are the sources we check and the legal basis for using each one.

Vital records offices
On full reports, we call the state vital records office or county health department that issued the certificate, wherever that office allows it. What each office will confirm varies, and the report records what it said.
Death Master File
Sunset is a certified subscriber to the Limited Access Death Master File through the National Technical Information Service.
Identity data
We use identity and public records data from licensed providers under the fraud prevention exception of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Security
Sunset is SOC 2 Type II certified, with annual audits and penetration testing. Records are encrypted in transit and at rest.
Retention
We keep each record and report for 3 years so you can retrieve it later, then delete it. Your institution can ask us to delete a record sooner.
Who it's for

For the teams that handle deceased accounts

Estate services teams

Work through deceased account claims without second-guessing every certificate. When you release funds, the report in the file shows what was checked.

Legal and fraud teams

Stop forged certificates before an account is closed or paid out, and keep a record of how each death was confirmed in case it is ever questioned.

Pricing

Priced by volume

We charge per record review, with monthly plans for teams that verify deaths every week. Tell us roughly how many records you see and we'll put together a plan.

Thanks. We'll reply within one business day.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Frequently asked questions

What do you need from us to verify a death?

A copy of the death certificate and the deceased's full name, date of birth and date of death. The last four digits of their SSN help with record matching but are optional.

How long does a verification take?

Most full reports come back within 1 business day. Instant results are also available. They skip the call to the vital records office, so they carry a lower confidence score. Vital records offices set their own response times, so a few full reports take longer, and we'll let you know when a record is waiting on one.

What does the confidence score mean?

The score runs from 0 to 100. It reflects how many independent sources confirmed the death and whether the certificate passed forensic review. Every report lists each check and its result, so your team can see what the score is based on.

Do you actually contact the vital records office?

Yes, on full reports, wherever the state or county allows it. Depending on the state, that is the state vital records office or the county health department that issued the certificate. Some offices will only confirm that a record exists, and the report says what each office confirmed. Instant results skip this call, which is why they carry a lower confidence score.

Can you verify a certificate that did not come from a Sunset user?

Yes. VerifyDeath works on any US death certificate your institution receives.

What happens if a check fails?

The report shows which check failed and what we found, and the score reflects it. When a certificate looks altered, an analyst writes up the specific problems so your fraud team has something concrete to work from.

What if the vital records office won't confirm the death?

Some offices will not confirm anything to a third party. When that happens the report says so, and the score rests on the other checks. You can still see each source that did confirm the death.

Which states do you cover?

All 50 states and Washington, DC. Certificates issued outside the US are not covered yet.

Can we send records in bulk?

Yes. Teams on a monthly plan can send a batch of certificates along with a spreadsheet of the deceased's details, and we return a report for each one.

How do you protect the records we send?

Sunset is SOC 2 Type II certified, with annual audits and penetration testing. Records are encrypted in transit and at rest and are used only to verify the death you sent us.