after loss

How to Get Copies of a Death Certificate

By Jason Su · Updated September 18, 2026

Certified copies are ordered from the vital records office in the state where the person died — typically the state health department, sometimes the county. The funeral home usually orders the first batch for you as part of its service. Order more than you think you need, because banks, insurers, pension plans, and government agencies each want their own copy, and almost none of them give it back.

Certified or informational: get this right first

Many states sell two versions, and the difference decides whether the document is usable.

Type	What it is	Where it works
Certified copy	Printed on security paper, with a raised or embossed seal and a registrar’s signature	The one that banks, insurers, agencies, and courts accept
Informational / uncertified copy	The same details, without the seal	Genealogy, your own records — often stamped “not for legal purposes”

The trap: some state websites start you on the informational copy because it is cheaper and requires less proof of relationship, and the page does not make the distinction obvious. If anyone is going to look at it to make a decision, you want certified.

How many to order

Ten is a common starting point, and some families need more. A rough picture of who will want one:

Who	Why
Banks and credit unions	To close or transfer each account — often one per institution
Life insurance companies	One per policy, and they keep it
Pension and retirement plan administrators	To stop payments and start survivor benefits
Social Security	Usually handled through the funeral director, but sometimes needed separately
Veterans Affairs	For burial, survivor, and headstone benefits
Mortgage lender or landlord	To settle the property or lease
Utilities and phone companies	To close or transfer accounts
Department of Motor Vehicles	To cancel a licence and transfer a vehicle title
The court handling the estate	Usually several over the course of the process
Credit bureaus	To flag the file and prevent identity theft
Safe deposit box bank	To gain access, where state law allows it

Nobody hands a copy back. That is why the number people regret is almost never “too many.”

Where to order

In the state where the death occurred — not where the person lived, if the two differ. People often find this out after applying in the wrong place.

• Start at that state’s health department or its vital records page. Many states route orders through a central vendor.
• Some counties and cities issue their own for deaths within their borders.
• Some states offer an expedited option for an extra fee.

Have ready: the person’s full legal name, date of death, place of death, date of birth, and your relationship to them. Many states require photo identification and, for some records, proof of relationship.

What the funeral home handles — and what it does not

Funeral directors typically file the death record and can order certified copies for you at the same time. That is usually the fastest route, because they are the ones submitting the paperwork in the first place.

What they generally do not do:

• Order more copies for you six weeks later, when you discover you are short
• Handle copies for a death that happened in another state
• Manage the ongoing requests as banks and insurers ask for them

So take the number you think you need, add a few, and order them at the arrangement meeting rather than afterwards.

How long it takes, and what it costs

• Cost varies widely by state — commonly somewhere in the range of $10 to $30 per certified copy, with some states charging more and a few charging less.
• Timing for a standard request is often one to three weeks, sometimes longer while the record is being finalised. Expedited service is available in some states for an additional fee.
• The delay that catches people out is ordering through the state before the record has been filed, which can add weeks. This is a good reason to take the funeral director’s offer.

If you need one urgently

Two things help:

1. Ask the funeral home. They usually have the shortest path to the record they just filed.
2. Check whether the state allows in-person or expedited service at its vital records office, and whether a local office can issue it.

If a bank or an agency says it needs one “immediately,” ask them what they actually need it for. Many will accept a photocopy for interim purposes while a certified copy is in transit.

Protecting the person’s identity

This matters more than most families realise. A deceased person’s Social Security number and personal details are valuable to identity thieves, and records of deaths are public in many places.

Two practical steps:

• Notify the credit bureaus so the file is flagged. This is one of the few tasks where speed genuinely helps.
• Be careful who gets a certified copy. Send them to institutions, not to individuals, and keep count of where they went.

See what happens to online accounts for the related problem of accounts left open after a passing.

What not to do

• Do not order informational copies for anything official. You will be told to reorder, and the second batch takes longer than the first.
• Do not order from the state where the person lived if they died somewhere else. Order from where the death occurred.
• Do not order two copies and assume you can scan them. Scans are useful, but institutions want a certified original, and you cannot turn a scan into one.
• Do not wait until you know exactly how many you need. The reorder cycle is what slows families down. Over-ordering costs a little; reordering costs weeks.
• Do not distribute copies casually. Hand them to institutions, and record who received one.

Frequently asked

How many death certificates should I get?

Ten is a reasonable starting number for most families, and more if the person had several bank accounts, insurance policies, or a pension. Count the institutions you will be dealing with, then add a few.

How much does a certified copy cost?

It varies by state, commonly in the $10–$30 range per copy, with expedited options costing more. Check the vital records page for the state where the death occurred.

What is the difference between certified and informational copies?

A certified copy carries a seal and a registrar’s signature, and it is the version institutions accept. An informational copy has the same information without the certification, and is usually not usable for legal or financial purposes.

Can I use a photocopy instead of ordering more?

For some interim purposes, yes. For anything that closes an account, pays a claim, or transfers ownership, no. Ask the institution what it will accept before you spend money on a copy it will reject.

Who can order a death certificate?

Rules vary by state and by how much time has passed. Immediate family and legal representatives are generally able to order certified copies, and some states restrict access to cause-of-death information. Check your state’s requirements before applying.

Do I need one for each bank account?

Usually one per institution rather than one per account, but policies differ. Ask each bank what it needs when you call — it is a shorter conversation than reordering.

Next step

Order the copies now, even if you are not sure of the final number. While you wait, work through the first-week checklist and start the People to Notify List so every notification and every copy is recorded in one place.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Fees, rules, and eligibility differ by state and change over time — please confirm details with the vital records office for the state where the death occurred.