Denmark Finding Death Information

Denmark Finding Death Information

Death is a fact of life that everyone faces at some point in their life. For centuries, official entities in Denmark have kept a record of this very important life fact. Although death records can be some of the most difficult to find, the following steps can make finding the death a little easier.

Step 1: What do I know?
The first step in finding death information of an ancestor is to determine what you already know. Before beginning research, ask yourself the following questions:


 * 1) Do I already have a death date and place? How accurate is that information?
 * 2) Are there any living relatives that would already have the information?
 * 3) Are there secondary sources (such as online Family Trees and Biographies) that would have the information? What have others found?

If you do find your ancestor's death information in your family records, or other easily available sources, make sure to document where you found that information. Also, make sure to determine whether the information found is merely family hearsay or if it came from original records.

Step 2: Suggestions for finding a death record
Unfortunately, there is no right or wrong way to find a death record. Death can come at any time in life. The timing can seem so random at times that it can be very easy to miss a death. However, there are a few simple suggestions that can help:


 * 1) Search the entire family: It may be tempting to only research your direct line ancestor, but with Danish ancestors, it is very important that you search for the entire family at the same time. Quite often you will find the death date (or possible time period) of your ancestor on the confirmation record of a child (not your direct line), the probate record of a sibling, the death record of a parent, etc., that you would have otherwise missed had you been researching only your direct line.
 * 2) Use censuses to narrow down a time frame: Although census records will not tell you the exact date of a person's death, they are one of the best records to help narrow down when an ancestor died. For example, if Jens Jensen was alive in the 1860 census, but could not be found in the 1870 census, it is a high possibility that he died sometime within those two years.
 * 3) Research the children: Many times, after a parent reached a certain age, They would either end up moving in with a child or the child would move in with them. The parent could have gone to any one of the children before he or she died; therefore, it is important to track the children.
 * 4) Stillborns are almost always recorded: Still born is a bit of a loose term used in the danish records. Even a child who lived for a couple of minutes could be considered stillborn. Despite how long they lived, or didn't live, stillborns are usually recorded in either the birth or death records, or both.

Step 3: What records can I search to find marriage information?

 * 1) Church Records
 * 2) Civil Registration:
 * 3) Probates:#Cemeteries:

If you still cannot find the marriage try the following records. These records may not give an actual marriage date or place, but they can give clues.


 * 1) Censuses :
 * 2) Military Levying Rolls :# Court Records :# Taxes :# Occupational Records :

Step 4: What's next?
After you have determined the death information of the ancestor, you can begin to search for other records.