A death certificate is a paper that records the official date and location of a person's death.
The funeral director usually purchases several copies for your use.
In some cases, you might need a "certified" death certificate. A certified death certificate has security features that proves that the document is genuine. Depending on the county the death certificate is from, the death certificate can have a watermark, a raised seal, micro-printing, multi-colored background, heat sensitive ink, etc. A certified death certificate is good for legal purposes such as settling an estate or claiming insurance benefits.