How to Get a Death Certificate in California

How to get a death certificate in California starts with a choice between two offices: the state office, which can issue a record for a death anywhere in California, and the county office where the death occurred, which is usually faster. Both charge the same state-set fee of $26 per copy. The main differences are waiting time and paperwork, and this guide covers both routes so you can pick the one that fits your deadline.

How to get a death certificate in California by mail from the state

The state route runs through the California Department of Public Health, Vital Records (CDPH-VR). Download the Application for Certified Copy of a Death Record, known as Form VS 112, from the CDPH website, and fill it in with the full name of the person who died, the date of death, and the county where the death occurred. If you want an authorized certified copy, the kind accepted by banks, insurers, and courts, you must also send a notarized sworn statement declaring that you are entitled to receive the record. If you do not want to visit a notary, or you are not entitled to an authorized copy, you can request an informational certified copy instead, which will be stamped across its face as not valid to establish identity and cannot be used for legal purposes.

Mail the completed application, the notarized statement if needed, and a check or money order for $26 per copy, payable to CDPH-VR, to the Sacramento address printed on the form. The state office does not accept cash. CDPH-VR’s published average processing time for certified copy requests is 4 to 6 weeks from the day it receives your application, and the office itself notes that county offices are often quicker. If your application is incomplete, the office will write to ask for the missing documents, and the clock effectively restarts once you reply, so check the form twice before mailing.

Ordering from the county where the death occurred

County offices are the faster route in most cases, and they are the right choice when you know the county of death. The county recorder or county vital records office handles in-person requests, and many counties also accept mail and online orders. In person, you fill out the application on site, sign the sworn statement in front of staff, show your ID, and pay the fee. Some counties issue the certificate the same day, while others take up to 20 business days for mail requests. Los Angeles County, for example, mails death records within 20 working days of receiving a mail request, and its mail fee is also $26 per authorized copy, with the first copy fee nonrefundable and a no-record statement issued if the record is not found.

County rules vary in one important way: each county only holds records for deaths in its own county, and some counties split recent and older records between offices. Los Angeles County’s health department holds records for the current and prior year, except for Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments, while the Registrar-Recorder handles older records. San Diego County sends deaths more than two years old to the Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. If you are unsure which office holds the record, call the county office first and ask, or use the state office, which covers the whole state.

Ordering online through VitalChek

Many California counties and the state office use VitalChek, a third-party vendor, for online orders. The certificate fee stays at $26 per copy, but VitalChek adds its own processing fee and shipping charges, so the total is noticeably higher than ordering by mail. The trade-off is speed: VitalChek offers expedited processing and priority shipping that can deliver a certificate within a few business days. If your need is urgent, for example an insurance deadline or a court filing, the extra vendor fee is usually worth it. If you have weeks to spare, mail to the county or state office and keep the $26 fee.

Who can order an authorized copy

California limits authorized certified copies to people who are entitled to receive them, and the sworn statement is how you declare that entitlement. The form asks for your relationship to the person who died, and the notarized statement for mail orders is signed under penalty of perjury. Anyone can request an informational copy, which is why families sometimes order informational copies for genealogy while the executor orders authorized copies for legal work. If you are handling an estate, order authorized copies: banks, insurers, and government agencies will not accept an informational copy.

Tips to avoid delay

Send the right payment. The state office takes checks and money orders made payable to CDPH-VR, not cash, and a wrong payee name can send your application back. Include the notarized statement for mail authorized copies, since a missing statement is the most common reason for delay. Give the exact date of death and county if you know them, and write names exactly as they appear on the record. If the death was very recent, wait until the record is registered before ordering: counties generally need about ten days after death before a certificate is available. And if you need many copies, order them all at once, since each later order starts a fresh wait.