The city said that beginning Wednesday it would be able to help 500 to 600 families each day with the process of getting death certificates for loved ones killed in the attack on the World Trade Center.

After two weeks of sifting through the rubble that was the World Trade Center, attention has shifted from finding survivors to helping those that are missing loved ones deal with the aftermath. Steven Fischner, the city's criminal justice coordinator, said Tuesday that with the help of volunteer lawyers and cooperative judges the normal three-year process ``is going to be reduced in most cases to a few days.''

The meetings between lawyers and family members should last 30 to 40 minutes, said Rosemary O'Keefe, the commissioner of the city's community assistance unit.

She said the meetings would be held between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. in a ``separate, quiet area'' at the family assistance center located at Pier 94 in Manhattan. Families of victims in the uniformed services have separate ``bereavement areas,'' she said.

Fischner suggested that next of kin come to the center in alphabetical order last names beginning with the letters A through G on Wednesday, H through P on Thursday and Q through Z on Friday but he stressed that families can come on whatever day is best for them.

``If people need more time to come to that decision, nobody is rushing them,'' Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. ``If they're ready for that, then we're ready to help them.''

Applying for a death certificate for a missing person is a usually a difficult and time consuming process. Even some of the attorneys who are volunteering their time at Pier 94 needed to be refreshed on the finer points of the process.

People wishing to file a death certificate for a victim will be asked for names, addresses, relationships, dates of birth, the circumstances of their last contact with the victim and the basis for the belief that the victim was at the World Trade Center when it was leveled in the Sept. 11 attack.

Documentation of the relationship will not be required, but Fischner suggested that families begin collecting documents, such as marriage licenses and birth certificates, in case they are demanded later.

Officials warned against giving such information to strangers, and said the city would be guarding against fraud. Fischner said there have not yet been any cases of such wrongdoing.

Fischner said the relative's affidavit would be combined with one from an employer or airline, vouching for the victim's presence at the disaster. A judge would then send an order to the medical examiner.

A registrar would then prepare a death certificate and send 10 certified copies by express mail to the next of kin.

Fischner said the process is separate from a program announced Monday by Gov. George Pataki that helps victims' families obtain death benefits without a death certificate. Relatives may find a death certificate more useful for other estate issues, he said.

Richard Sheirer, director of the mayor's Office of Emergency Management, said there was also ``a big emotional part'' to the obtaining of a death certificate.

It cannot be expected that applying for a death certificate marks the end of the bereavement process for these families, but it does provide a sense of closure. It also provides a means to go on, allowing people such as Salma Achmed to access her father's bank account. Shabbir Achmed worked on the 107th floor of the twin towers and is still missing.

Without a death certificate Achmed's family does not have access to any of their finances. ``The certificate gives me closure. It was also helpful and comforting to come here, see the other families and know I'm not alone,'' she said.