Death Certificates

You may apply for Certifications of death in person at any of our locations. If you choose to mail in your application, please address it to the Central Dade office (see address below). Telephone requests are accepted at 1-866-830-1906. You may also apply on the internet at VitalChek®

Death registration was not required by state law until 1917; however there are some records on file at the State Office of Vital Statistics dating back to 1877. Currently, the Miami-Dade County Health Department has records from 2009 to present. To obtain a certified copy of earlier death records, please contact the State Office of Vital Statistics.

The first step is to determine your eligibility to receive a death certificate.

WITHOUT CAUSE OF DEATH: Any person of legal age (18) may be issued a certified copy of a death record without the cause of death.

WITH CAUSE OF DEATH INFORMATION: Death records with the cause of death information may only be issued to the following individuals:

- The decedent’s spouse or parent,
- The decedent’s child, grandchild or sibling, if of legal age,
- Any person who provides a will, insurance policy or other document that demonstrates his or her interest in the estate of the decedent, or
- Any person who provides documentation that he or she is acting on behalf of any of the above named persons

If after reading the above information, you are still uncertain regarding your eligibility for cause of death information, please call the Miami-Dade County Health Department’s Office of Vital Records at 305-575-5030 for assistance.

Cause of death information on death records over 50 years old is available to anyone completing an application and submitting the required fee. To obtain a certified copy of such older death records, please contact the State Office of Vital Statistics at 904-359-6900.

All requests for certification of a death certificate, that includes the cause of death information must include the following:

- The applicant’s PICTURE ID (such as a valid driver’s license (front and back), state identification card, passport or military identification card). A photocopy of your PICTURE ID is required for mailed-in applications
- Please note the applicant’s signature IS REQUIRED
- The applicant’s eligibility status (relationship to the decedent)
- The Decedent’s full name, date and place of death
- The applicant’s full name, address and telephone number(s)

The fee for each certified copy of a Florida death record is $20.00. When purchased at the same time, additional copies of the identical death record are $16.00 each.

For Walk-In applications, fees are payable either in cash, by money order, cashier’s or Visa, Discover, and Mastercard. For Mailed-In applications, fees are payable by money order, cashier’s check, Visa and Mastercard. (Please do not send cash by mail). Money Orders/Cashier’s checks should be made payable to Vital Records Unit.

For your convenience, you can process online requests through an independent company that we have partnered with to provide you this service; VitalChek Network, Inc. VitalChek can be reached either through its website, www.vitalchek.com, or by phone at 1-866-830-1906.  An additional fee is charged by VitalChek for using this service, and all major credit cards are accepted, including American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard® or Visa®.”

Optional Purchases
Protective Certificate Sleeves: $3.00
Expedited Mail/Phone/Internet Service (3 days or less processing time): $10.00 (Does not include Express Delivery)**
Express Delivery: Price Varies (Does not include Expedited Service)**

**Please note, Expedited Service and Express Delivery are separate options.

The following methods are available to obtain birth and death records:

• Online
• Mail Order
• Walk-in

All requests need a valid picture ID.
For any additional information, please call 305-575-5030.

The following form can be downloaded in Adobe PDF format. If you do not have an Adobe PDF Reader, you can download the appropriate version at the Adobe Web Site or contact The Office of Vital Records at 305-575-5030 and request a Death Certificate Application Request Form.

Also, to download a Death Certificate Application Request Form, please click here: Death Certificate Application Request Form