Death Certificates

Another great way to find precious information about your ancestors is by looking at their death certificates.

A death certificate is a document issued by a government official, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death.

The information you can obtain from a death certificate may include: Name of the deceased, Date of death, Sex, Color or race, Age, Marital status, Place of death, Cause of death, Place of birth, Occupation, Name of physician, Name of coroner holding inquest, Date recorded & more.

Searching for death certificates online

If you want to obtain a copy of a death certificate online - you can basically do so in one of two ways:

Visit the official website of the state's health department and apply for a copy of the death certificate after filling an appropriate application form (You can usually apply by phone, fax or by mail).

Listed below are the official websites of each state. Please be advised to adhere to each state's application rules and policies. These differ between states.

Note:

2 states (Arizona and Missouri. Marked with *) went the extra mile and created an online databases where you can search for digitized images of original death certificates, that are more than 50 years old, free of charge. These images do not constitute certified copies, but may well help you for research purposes. (Genealogical research etc..).

Apply for a copy using an online service such as Vitalcheck. VitalChek is a fast and convenient way to order certified copies of death certificates online (with government seal), being the official service provider for many government agencies throughout the United States.

Important Note:

There are more than a few rip-off websites that will try to make you think that after you subscribe to their site - you will be able to easily search for death certificates online thru their site, without the need to fill in proper application forms and comply with strict Identification Requirements.

As mentioned above - there's no such thing!. Not every person is allowed to get a glance at death certificates (usually restricted to spouse, immediate family members, people with a legal interest, attorneys & other individuals - as defined in local laws & policies).

The exception is, as mentioned above - searching for death certificates more than 50 years old, currently available for the state of Arizona & Missouri (and maybe other states will join such projects in the future).

So don't be tempted by websites that offer "death certificate" search or access to a "death certificate" database. Such "database" is probably a fictitious one. I was personally a victim of one of those scammers in my early days, so be warned.

Following is the list of official sources for obtaining death certificates in each state: