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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Dying just got easier in Utah. Doctors and funeral homes can now use the Internet to sign off on death certificates.
In the past doctors and funeral directors had to run around to get each other's signature. No more.
Now, registered parties can tidy up these bureaucratic affairs in a spare moment.
Utah County funeral home operator Lane Smith of Serenicare says the new process is far easier for everyone involved.
Smith says he'll be able to get doctors to sign off on an evening or weekend death from their homes or wherever they can get Internet service.
It's also easier for a family trying to hurry a burial or move a body out of the state or county during a weekend.
Utah now takes about a third of death certificates online after rolling out the system two months ago.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
