How to Get a Death Certificate in Connecticut

Connecticut is more open than most states. By law, anyone 18 or older can buy a certified copy of a death certificate. You do not need to be family or the executor, and no proof of relationship is needed for a standard copy. On the request form, an executor or administrator can check "Any Person 18 years of age or older."

What is restricted is the person's Social Security number. Only these people can get a copy that shows it, and they must send proof of identity and proof of relationship:

• The informant named on the death certificate
• The surviving spouse (named on the certificate)
• Next of kin

Everyone else, including genealogists, gets a certified copy with the Social Security number removed. If you check "Yes" for the Social Security number but do not send proof, you will get a copy without it. Executors and administrators are not on the list of people who can get the Social Security number version. Contact the office to confirm what proof it accepts.

Connecticut has two places that issue death certificates: the town and the state. The Department of Public Health (DPH) says requests to town offices are generally processed more quickly.

Town vital records offices (usually fastest)

Each of Connecticut's 169 towns has a vital records office, usually run by the town clerk. The town where the death happened keeps the original certificate. If the person lived in a different Connecticut town, the town of death also sends a copy to the town where the person lived.

• In person: visit the vital records office in the town where the death happened, or the town where the person lived at the time of death. Towns set their own hours and payment methods, so call ahead. Find each town in the DPH town directory.
• By mail: fill out the Town application (form VS-39DST) and mail it to the town where the death happened.
• Online: some towns take orders through VitalChek for their own records.
• Some well-known places, such as Collinsville, Winsted and Willimantic, are districts inside a town, not official towns. Look up the official town name before you send a request.

State Vital Records Office (Hartford)

The state holds Connecticut death records from July 1, 1897 to the present. It is a good choice if you are not sure which town the death happened in. Processing time varies and can be up to 12 weeks.

• In person: 410 Capitol Avenue, 1st Floor, Hartford, CT 06106. Walk-in hours: Monday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Closed on observed holidays. You need photo ID to enter the building. Pay by cash or money order; a credit or debit card adds a $2.50 fee.
• By mail: fill out the State application (form VS-39DST) and mail it to the state office. The current form gives this address: Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Records, Attn: Customer Services, 410 Capitol Ave, MS # 11VRS, Hartford, CT 06134-0308. The DPH Contact Us page lists the same street and mail stop with ZIP code 06106. Call (860) 509-7700 to confirm which to use.
• Online or by phone: through VitalChek, linked from the DPH death certificates page. VitalChek adds its own processing and shipping fees on top of the $20 per copy. DPH does not publish those fees or a turnaround time.

Phone: (860) 509-7700 (birth, death and marriage certificates). Fax: (860) 509-7964.

• The request form. Use the State or Town version of form VS-39DST, both on the DPH applications and forms page.
• Payment of $20 per copy. Official sources disagree on which payments are accepted, so a money order is the safest choice:
• State mail orders: the current state form accepts a money order, business check or cashier's check payable to "Treasurer, State of CT," with no personal checks and no cash by mail. The DPH How to Obtain a Record page still says only a money order is accepted. A money order works under both.
• Town mail orders: the DPH page says a money order payable to the town is required and personal checks are not accepted, but the current town form says "Money Order or Check" payable to the town. Practice varies by town. Call the town before sending a personal check.
• Photo ID to enter the state building in Hartford. Some towns also ask for ID at the counter.
• Proof of identity and proof of relationship, only if you are the informant, surviving spouse or next of kin and want the Social Security number on the copy.

Veterans: the spouse, child or parent of a deceased veteran can get one certified copy free. Include a valid photo ID and proof of relationship to the veteran, and the death certificate must show veteran status. Contact the office to confirm what else is required.

Connecticut does not sell a separate "informational" copy to the public. Every copy sold to the public is a certified copy for $20. The law allows uncertified copies only in limited cases, so families and executors order certified copies.

Two choices on the request form change what you get:

• With or without the Social Security number. Only the informant, surviving spouse and next of kin who send proof can get the number. Everyone else gets a certified copy with it removed.
• Long Form or Short Form. The Long Form is available for all years on file. The Short Form is available only for deaths from January 1, 2021 to the present. Both cost $20. DPH does not explain what the Short Form leaves out. If you are unsure which one a bank, insurer or court will accept, ask them, or contact the vital records office to confirm.

The funeral director handling the burial or cremation completes the death certificate through the state's electronic system, CT-Vitals. They collect the personal details from the next of kin and get the medical part from the doctor or other certifier, who must complete it within 24 hours of death in most cases.

By law, the funeral director files the certificate with the town where the death happened within 3 calendar days if filed electronically, or 5 business days on paper. The town then sends copies to DPH each month, by the 15th of the following month. That is why recent deaths are usually quickest to get from the town where the death happened.

DPH does not say how many days after death a copy can first be ordered. Funeral directors can also order certified copies for the family through CT-Vitals at the time of death, so ask your funeral home whether they will order copies for you.

Banks, insurers and government agencies often ask for a certified copy, and some may keep the copy you send. In Connecticut every copy costs $20, so there is no savings from ordering extras at once, but ordering enough up front saves a second trip or a long state wait. See our guide on how many copies to count what you need.

If the death certificate has a mistake, these people can ask for a correction: the next of kin, the informant, the certifier, the medical examiner, or the funeral director named on the certificate.

• Send the vital records office in the town where the death happened a notarized affidavit stating that the record is incorrect or incomplete and that the new information is accurate.
• Include documents that prove the correct information. Contact that town first to ask which documents it needs for your change.
• DPH says there is no processing fee for corrections or amendments. New certified copies of the corrected record are $20 each.
• A change made more than a year after the death is an amendment, and the new certificate is marked "Amended." A correction of a simple error is not marked that way.

Details are on the DPH corrections and amendments page.

In Connecticut, the official ways to order a death certificate are:

• The vital records office in the town where the death happened (or, in person, the town where the person lived)
• The State Vital Records Office in Hartford, in person or by mail
• VitalChek, which DPH says is the only third-party vendor it approves, reached through the DPH death certificates page

Other websites that offer to order a death certificate for you are not approved by DPH. Start from the DPH website to be sure you are in the right place.