How to Find a Cause of Death in Hawaii (2026)

In Hawaii, the cause of death is recorded on the certified death certificate and, for investigated deaths, in the medical examiner's autopsy report. The death certificate is a closed record, so only someone with a direct and tangible interest, such as family or an estate representative, can obtain the cause of death until the record opens for genealogy about 115 years later.

How Do You Find Someone's Cause of Death in Hawaii?

You find a cause of death in Hawaii by obtaining the certified death certificate, which carries the official cause on its medical certification section. The Hawaii State Department of Health issues that certificate, and only an applicant with a direct and tangible interest in the record can buy a copy.

If the death was investigated, a second source exists: the county medical examiner or coroner's autopsy report. That report explains the cause and manner of death in far more detail than the certificate.

When you cannot get either official document, you can still learn how someone died through the obituary, a newspaper account, or a family member who already holds the certificate. For deaths long in the past, the record itself eventually opens to the public.

Is the Cause of Death Public in Hawaii?

No. The cause of death is not public in Hawaii because it lives on the death certificate, and Hawaii is a closed-record state for recent deaths. Hawaii Revised Statutes section 338-18 directs the Department of Health not to issue a certified copy unless the applicant has a direct and tangible interest in the record.

That rule protects the privacy of the deceased and their family, and it covers the cause of death along with every other detail on the certificate. The general public cannot pull a recent Hawaii death certificate simply out of curiosity.

The statute does include a public-access window. The department may release copies of vital records for events that occurred more than 115 years before the current year, which makes the cause of death on very old records effectively open for genealogy research.

One related document follows a different rule, but with two limits worth knowing before you ask for it. Under Hawaii's Uniform Information Practices Act (HRS Chapter 92F), the Office of Information Practices has treated a medical examiner's final autopsy report as a disclosable record rather than a closed one (OIP Op. Ltr. No. 91-32). The first limit is timing: an autopsy report connected with a pending or prospective law enforcement investigation may be withheld under the UIPA's frustration of a legitimate government function exception, and it should be made available for public inspection only after the investigation and any prosecution conclude. That limit lands on exactly the deaths this page sends you to the medical examiner for, the sudden, violent, or unexplained ones.

The second limit is privacy. OIP Op. Ltr. No. 03-19 overruled 91-32 to the extent it held that a person's privacy interest is extinguished by death, concluding instead that health information and reputational and family-related privacy interests survive death and diminish only with the passage of time. The agency must weigh that remaining privacy interest against the public interest in disclosure, so a request can come back redacted, denied, or delayed rather than as an automatic copy. For the broader national picture, see Are Cause of Death Records Public?.

Where the Cause of Death Is Recorded

The cause of death is recorded in two distinct places in Hawaii, and they are not the same document.

On the Death Certificate

Every Hawaii death certificate includes a medical certification section. A physician, or the medical examiner for investigated deaths, completes this part with the immediate cause of death, the underlying conditions that led to it, and the manner of death.

This is the short, official statement of cause that appears on the certified copy issued by the Department of Health. It is the document banks, courts, and insurers rely on.

In the Autopsy Report

When a death is sudden, violent, or unexplained, the county medical examiner or coroner conducts an examination and may order an autopsy. The resulting final report of examination describes the findings in detail and supports the cause listed on the certificate.

The autopsy report is a separate record held by the medical examiner's office, not by vital records. It often contains far more information than the one-line cause on the certificate.

How to Request Records That Show the Cause of Death

You request the certified death certificate from the Hawaii State Department of Health, Office of Health Status Monitoring. You must show a direct and tangible interest, provide a government-issued photo ID, and pay the fee, which is $10.00 for the first certified copy plus a $2.50 search and processing fee.

You can order online at the state portal (vitrec.ehawaii.gov), by mail to the Department of Health in Honolulu, or in person at 1250 Punchbowl Street. Eligible requesters include the spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, a relative sharing a common ancestor, a legal guardian, and an estate representative. Full ordering steps are on our Hawaii Death Records page.

For the autopsy report on an investigated death, you contact the county medical examiner or coroner directly rather than vital records. In Honolulu, that is the Department of the Medical Examiner; in Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai counties, the police chief serves as ex-officio coroner. Expect a wait if the death is still under investigation, because the office may hold the report back until the investigation and any prosecution have ended.

Finding the Cause of Death for Older or Historical Deaths

For older deaths, the easiest starting point is usually the obituary or a newspaper death notice, which often names the cause or circumstances. Libraries and the State Archives hold historical newspapers and indexes that help you locate these.

Hawaii vital records open to the public for genealogy once an event is more than 115 years old. After that point, the death record and the cause it lists can be researched even by people unrelated to the deceased.

To confirm only the fact and date of a death, the Social Security Death Index is a useful free tool. It draws on Social Security records, but it never includes the cause of death, so it is a starting point rather than an answer.

Disclaimer: This page provides general information, not legal advice. Access rules, fees, and processing times change. Verify the current requirements with the Hawaii State Department of Health or the relevant county medical examiner before you rely on them.

Sources

This page draws on the Hawaii State Department of Health Vital Records office, the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner, Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapters 338 and 841, and OIP Opinion Letter No. 91-32 as modified by OIP Opinion Letter No. 03-19.

Related: Hawaii Death Records and Death Records by State.