California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 102245

On and after January 1, 1978, whenever the State Registrar receives a death certificate from a local registrar, the State Registrar shall determine whether the state records contain the birth certificate of the deceased or a reproduction thereof as authorized under this chapter. If the State Registrar has such a record of birth, it shall be revised to indicate the date of the death of the registrant, or, alternatively, a notation to that effect shall be entered in the State Registrar's index of births adjacent to the name of the deceased. The State Registrar, pursuant to an ongoing program, shall distribute, without charge, on a monthly basis to each county, a list of deceased registrants to enable local registrars and recorders to update their files. Upon receipt of such a list the local registrar or county recorder shall revise the local records or indexes accordingly.

Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for that purpose, the State Registrar may similarly revise or index birth records of registrants whose death certificates were filed prior to January 1, 1978.