Death certificates
How many death certificates do you need?
Tick the accounts and assets of the estate: the planner counts the certified copies that institutions will keep and prices them at the state office.
Certified copies to order
9
| Banks | 2 |
| Life insurance | 1 |
| Retirement plans | 1 |
| Vehicles | 1 |
| Real estate | 1 |
| Probate court | 1 |
| Spares | 2 |
| Cost at the state office · California | $234 |
| Same copies ordered one at a time | $234 |
Estimate: one copy for each institution that keeps an original; many others accept a photocopy. Ask before you send an original.
Most estates need between five and ten certified copies of the death certificate, but the right number is the count of institutions that will keep an original rather than look at one and hand it back. Each bank or credit union usually keeps one, whatever the number of accounts held there; each life insurance company asks for one per claim; each pension plan, 401(k) or IRA administrator and brokerage firm wants its own; the motor vehicle office keeps one for every vehicle retitled; and each county where real estate is recorded needs one to clear the title. A probate case adds one for the court, and a claim for veterans' burial or survivor benefits adds another. Social Security usually only needs the funeral home's report. Add one or two spares for documents nobody expected. Ordering all of them at once is cheaper in states where extra copies cost less: five copies in one order cost between $21 and $160 across the 52 offices, ten between $39 and $320. This count is an estimate written by Radif Partners, not a legal rule; ask each institution before sending an original.
How much do you save by ordering all copies at once?
6 copies in one order
$99
| Ordered one at a time | $144 |
| Saved | $45 |
| Price per copy in one order | $16.50 |
Fees and rules read on official pages by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the fees are checked
Who keeps an original, who looks and returns it
- Keep a certified copy: banks and credit unions, life insurance companies, retirement plan and pension administrators, brokerage firms, the motor vehicle office, the county recorder for a real estate deed, the probate court, the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Usually accept a photocopy: utilities, phone and internet providers, credit card issuers, subscription services, voter registration, professional associations.
- Usually need nothing from the family: Social Security, informed by the funeral home in most cases.
When unsure, call and ask whether the institution will return the certified copy after inspection. Several do, which saves a copy.
Eight copies: the cheapest and the dearest states
Eight certified copies ordered together, an ordinary count for an estate with a home, a car and a few accounts.
| Lowest total | 8 copies |
|---|---|
| Florida | $33 |
| South Carolina | $33 |
| Indiana | $36 |
| Hawaii | $38 |
| New Jersey | $39 |
| Highest total | 8 copies |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $256 |
| New York (outside NYC) | $240 |
| California | $208 |
| Alaska | $205 |
| Washington | $200 |
Why the state of death decides the price
The copies are sold only by the state where the death took place, so a parent who lived in Florida and died during a stay in Pennsylvania has a Pennsylvania death certificate at Pennsylvania's fee. The full table of fees is on the death certificate cost page, and the vital records office finder gives each state's ordering page.
What your death certificates cost
8 death certificates · Pennsylvania
$160
| First copy | $20 |
| Each extra copy | $20 |
| Rank (1 = cheapest) | 41 / 52 |
Keeping track of the copies
Write on a list which institution received a copy and on which date. If the estate takes months, some institutions ask for a copy issued recently; a fresh copy then counts as a new order. Executors also need copies of their letters testamentary from the probate court, which the court sells separately; the marriage record of the surviving spouse can be needed too, see marriage certificate copies.