How to Obtain a Death Record
A person's death record is a matter of public record and can be requested by just about anybody depending on state laws in the state in which the death occured. Death records are routinely requested for insurance purposes but many people also request them while doing genealogical research. Requesting a death record is a simple task and should not take much time depending on how busy your local vital statistics office happens to be.
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Instructions
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Contact your local vital statistics office in order to receive any application paperwork that you will need. Some states allow you to download and print the application for a death certificate.
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Fill out the application in its entirety. Make sure you follow any specific directions listed for the way you plan to turn your application in. Some states will require you have the application notarized if you are mailing it in. Most applications will ask for identifying information for both yourself and the deceased.
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Turn in your application, any supporting documents such as a driver's license or birth certificate that is requested, and your state's fee for the death certificate. Depending on the state where the death occurred the office of vital statistics may ask for extra documents that prove you are a specific relative of the deceased. This is especially true for recent deaths.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have applied in person and the death certificate is easily found you should be able to take a certified copy home with you. If you have applied by mail you will need to wait until your copy of the death certificate arrives in the mail.
Before requesting a death certificate you should ask the vital statistics office what years they have death records for. Some states will not have extremely old death records.
