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For Families

To Obtain a Copy of the Medical Examiner's Autopsy Report

If you are the legal next-of-kin and want a copy of the Medical Examiner's Autopsy Report, please send a brief note or click HERE to print out the Autopsy Request Form and send it to the address below.
All requests MUST include name of deceased, date of death, and your relationship to deceased. A photocopy of identification is also required.

You may submit the autopsy request form by mail or through e-mail.

Mailing Address:

OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER
BLDG. 487 William J. Lindsay County Complex
P.O. BOX 6100
Hauppauge, New York 11788-0099

 MedicalExaminer@suffolkcountyny.gov

 

When the Autopsy Report is completed, it will be sent to you at no charge.

Family members not defined as the immediate legal next-of-kin may request a copy of the report from the immediate legal next-of-kin or, if necessary, obtain a notarized authorization from that individual allowing them to receive the report.  Written requests from all other individuals must include notarized authorization from the immediate legal next-of-kin along with a check in the amount of $30.00 made payable to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.


New York State Next of Kin Hierarchy

  • Person designated in written Instrument
  • Spouse
  • Domestic Partner
  • Any child 18 or older
  • Either parent
  • Any brother or sister 18 or older
  • Authorized guardian
  • Person 18 or older eligible to receive an estate distribution, in the following order:
    • Grandchildren
    • Great-Grandchildren
    • Nieces and nephews
    • Grand-nieces and Grand-nephews
    • Grandparents
    • Aunts and Uncles
    • First Cousins
    • Great grandchildren of grand-parents
    • Second cousins
  • Fiduciary
  • Close friend or other relative under specific conditions
  • Public Administrator

If the Death Certificate reads "PENDING FURTHER STUDY", please send a brief note requesting a final cause of death including the name of the deceased, date of death, and your relationship to the deceased. When the case has been completed, you will receive from our office a Cause of Death Letter. At that time, you may obtain a copy of the amended death certificate from the Registrar's Office in the town or village where the death occurred.

If a Cause of Death is needed for insurance purposes and the company is unwilling to pay on a policy because of an incomplete Cause of Death, please have a representative of that company call this office and request to speak to the Pathologist who performed the autopsy. In many cases, the insurance company will take a verbal from the Pathologist.

We hope this information will be helpful to you at this difficult time.

Obtain an Medical Exam Report

Suffolk County Government

H. Lee Dennison Bldg

100 Veterans Memorial Hwy
P.O. Box 6100
Hauppauge, NY 11788

Riverhead County Center

County Road 51
Riverhead, NY 11901