How to Search for Deceased Persons in California
Death records are a valuable resource when searching for your family's roots. Death records, obituaries and cemetery burials provide clues to finding ancestral connections. Some sites require payment to access the records; others are free of charge. Statewide and county-specific searches are available. RootsWeb provides death information for California from 1940-1997. Searching for earlier death records, obituaries and burials may require searching in the archive files of county or city newspapers.
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Instructions
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Searching for Deaths Between 1940-1997
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Access the California Death Records page on RootsWeb. Search by name, birth or death year, birth or death place or mother's maiden name for records from 1940-1997.
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Review search results to locate desired name. Add additional search criteria to narrow search.
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Click "Order Record" to purchase the death certificate for the person you are searching for.
Searching for Deaths Before 1940 or After 1997
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Find an applicable county or city of death on Death Indexes' Online California Death Records & Indexes website.
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Click the appropriate county or city link to search records of that area's obituaries, cemetery burials, probate searches and more.
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Search the various links and pages to locate the deceased person you are searching for.
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Tips & Warnings
Contact the California Department of Public Health for a copy of a death certificate.
California's San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Division offers an unclaimed person search option for those looking for an unclaimed deceased person in California.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit cemetary image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com
