State Vital Records

within the time limit set by each state's vital statistics laws¹

An official certificate of every death is filed in the locality where the death occurred. There is no national death certificate: the federal government does not maintain files or indexes of these records or distribute certificates with identifying information.^{2, 3}

A certificate can be filed before autopsy or laboratory findings are complete. The state registrar can amend a registered certificate to add information unknown at filing, and each state sets the forms, the evidence and who may request the amendment.¹

The funeral director files the death certificate with the registration official, obtains the cause-of-death certification from the attending physician or the medical examiner or coroner, and files within the state's time limit. The family files nothing to open the record.¹

The record belongs to the state where the death occurred, not the state where the person lived. Certified copies are ordered from the vital records office of the state or area of death, under its fees and eligibility rules.³

There is no state death certificate for a death abroad. When a U.S. citizen dies in another country, the U.S. embassy or consulate issues a Consular Report of Death Abroad, which is used in the United States as proof of death.^{4, 5}

Families have no deadline: certified copies can be ordered at any time.⁴

Access is restricted in most states. When someone dies, only certain family members, typically a spouse, children and siblings, can obtain a copy, along with people with a legal interest in the record such as the executor or administrator of the estate.⁴

Death records become public after a period each state defines; some states release death certificates 25 or more years after death.⁴

Some states issue a second, non-certified grade of copy to requesters who do not qualify for the restricted version. California, for example, issues a "certified informational copy" that cannot be used to establish the identity of the person named on it.⁶

A certified copy is the version banks, insurers and government agencies ask for, for example to notify the Social Security Administration, close or transfer accounts, and claim life insurance or a pension. A photocopy may be enough for smaller tasks such as canceling a subscription.⁴

Each state sets its own fee for the first certified copy, and many discount additional copies ordered at the same time. Online and phone orders usually go through a commercial vendor under contract to the state, which adds its own charge, and some states add a priority-handling fee to those orders.^{7, 8}

States warn that unaffiliated "order your vital records here" sites are not authorized and often overcharge. Order only through the vendor the state's own vital records office links to.⁷

Up to 20 free certified copies of a Consular Report of Death Abroad are available at the time of death.⁴

Online and telephone orders for the many states that partner with it, for a fee of its own on top of the state fee^{8, 7}

Issues the Consular Report of Death Abroad when a U.S. citizen dies in another country^{4, 5}

Additional copies of a Consular Report of Death Abroad⁵

Consular Reports of Death Abroad filed before 1975⁵

A CDC/NCHS directory that links the vital records office of every state, territory and New York City.³