How to Find a Death Certificate
How to Find Death Records
Learning how to find a death certificate can be frustrating, because a standard Google search or Yahoo search is going to list a bunch of vital records websites that aren’t free. There’s really no reason to pay good money for death records, so I would warn you to avoid those sites and find alternate means of obtaining death certificates. The process might take you a little bit more time, but not much.
Here’s a how to guide for finding death records in your area. Online records searches will let you either find the documents yourself, or find an office or person who can direct you to death records.
1. USA Search
Go to USA Search Dotgov to search for online death certificates. Instead of a private for-profit records site, you’ll be using a government web site that has to the tools to help you find files it is your right as an American citizen to see.
USASearch lets you search news, images, mapes and more, with advanced search options, search tips and an online tutorial to make life easier for you. When you type in “death certificate”, you’ll be directed to state websites for vital statistics and records. Consider clicking on the on-site links to “Order Death Certificates” or the “Vital Statistics”, which are generally defined as birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce documents and death records.
2. State Vital Record Archives
If, for some reason, you can’t find the correct death certificate from the state websites given on USA Search, then put the state you are looking for and the term “death certificate” in quotations into a search engine. You should be directed pretty quickly to you local state government’s website, or the web address of the state your family member or cousin died in. For example, if you want to find a death certificate in California, type in “California death records“.
3. Call if You Must
These days, you’re likely to find death records posted on the Internet. If you state or local authorities haven’t been on the ball enough for this to be the case, learn the phone number, email address and live address. Once you have the contact information, you should know how to find a death certificate for that area.
You might have to make a trip down to the vital records bureau of your county, or mail the state offices and have them mail you the records you asked for, but at least you won’t be paying an arm and a leg for files you have FOIA rights to see. In either case, you might be asked to pay a small fee to cover the cost of copying the record and mailing you the files, but it’s a small fee in comparison to a website subscription.
4. Pay for Convenience
Those who want to know how to find death certificates quickly may have to pay. That’s essentially the value in paying a fee to an online records site: the quickness and convenience of instant information. Unless you want instant gratification in your search for death records, never pay for online death certificates.
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This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 9:32 pm and is filed under Genealogical Records, Vital Records. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] How To Find a Death Certificate How to Find People’s Cell Phone Numbers How To Find a Missing Family Member How To Find People on Ask.com How To Find a Missing Friend [...]
[...] How to Find a Death Certificate – Focuses on the state vital record archives for Internet and live searches, the USA Search website for online death certificates, and giving other advice on obtaining death records, in case both of these fail. [...]