Several categories of people can legally request the medical records of a deceased person, but the level of access depends on their relationship to the deceased and their legal authority. The person with the broadest right of access is the executor or administrator of the estate. Family members, caregivers, and individuals pursuing legal claims can also request records, though their access may be more limited.
Executors and Estate Administrators
Under federal privacy law, a “personal representative” of a deceased person has the same right to medical records that the patient would have had while alive. For a deceased individual, this includes anyone with legal authority to act on behalf of the decedent or their estate. Critically, this authority does not need to be specifically related to healthcare decisions. An executor named in a will or an administrator appointed by a probate court qualifies automatically.
If you are the executor, you can request the full scope of protected health information relevant to your responsibilities in managing the estate. That could include treatment records, billing information, and insurance correspondence. Healthcare providers are required to treat you as if you were the patient for the purposes of records access.
Family Members and Caregivers
If no executor has been appointed, or if you’re a family member who was involved in the person’s care, you can still request records, but the scope is narrower. Federal rules allow healthcare providers to disclose relevant health information to spouses, parents, children, domestic partners, other relatives, and even friends of the deceased, as long as those individuals were involved in the person’s healthcare or payment for care before death.
There are two important limitations here. First, the information disclosed must be relevant to your involvement in the person’s care or payment. You won’t necessarily receive the complete medical file. Second, if the deceased person expressed a preference while alive that certain people should not receive their health information, and the healthcare provider knows about that preference, the provider can deny the request.
This distinction matters in practice. A spouse who managed a loved one’s treatment and communicated with doctors has a stronger basis for access than a distant relative who had no role in the person’s care.
People Pursuing Legal Claims
If you’re involved in a wrongful death lawsuit or similar legal action, you may be able to access the deceased person’s medical records even without being named executor. Courts have increasingly recognized that requiring a formal estate administration just to obtain medical records creates an unnecessary barrier to legitimate legal claims. A Georgia Supreme Court ruling, for example, found that neither state law nor federal privacy rules require the appointment of an executor or administrator before records can be released for a wrongful death case.
In practice, attorneys handling wrongful death or malpractice cases routinely obtain medical records through court orders or subpoenas. If you’re the surviving spouse or next of kin pursuing a legal claim, your attorney can typically secure the records you need without you personally opening a full probate estate.
What You’ll Need to Provide
Healthcare providers won’t simply hand over records because you say you’re a relative. You’ll need documentation proving your authority or relationship. The specific requirements vary by provider, but a typical request involves:
- A copy of the official death certificate
- Letters of administration or letters testamentary from probate court if you’re the executor or administrator
- A notarized affidavit stating you are a distributee of the deceased, if no executor has been appointed
- A signed HIPAA authorization from the executor or distributee
Some states allow a simplified process for small estates that don’t go through full probate. In those cases, a small estate affidavit may be sufficient. Contact the healthcare provider’s medical records department before submitting your request to confirm exactly what they require, since documentation standards differ between hospitals, private practices, and health systems.
Fees for Record Copies
Providers can charge for copying medical records, but fees are regulated. In New York, for example, the legal maximum is 75 cents per page plus postage for paper copies. Providers cannot charge a separate search and retrieval fee. For imaging like X-rays or MRIs, they can charge actual reproduction costs. Fee limits vary by state, so check your state health department’s guidelines if the quoted price seems high.
How State Law Affects Your Rights
Federal privacy protections set the baseline, but state laws can expand or modify who gets access and under what conditions. Some states define next of kin more broadly or establish a specific hierarchy of relatives who can request records. Others have additional protections for sensitive categories of information like mental health treatment, substance abuse records, or HIV status that may limit what even an executor can access without a court order.
Federal privacy protections for a deceased person’s medical records remain in effect for 50 years after the date of death. After that, the records are no longer covered by federal privacy rules, though state laws or institutional policies may still apply. For most people requesting a loved one’s records, this timeline is not a practical concern, but it does mean that genealogical or historical researchers face different rules depending on how long ago the person died.
Because state law plays such a large role in determining your specific rights, the state where the healthcare provider is located matters more than the state where you live or where the person died. If you’re hitting a wall with a records request, your state’s health department or attorney general’s office can clarify what the provider is required to release and to whom.