How to Get a Death Certificate in Ohio

Ohio is an open-records state. You do not have to be a family member to order a death certificate. By law (ORC 3705.23), the state or a local registrar must issue a certified copy to anyone who signs an application and pays the fee. In practice, you need the basic facts: the deceased's full name, date of death, and the city or county where the death happened.

The one exception: the Social Security number. For the first 5 years after a death, the deceased's Social Security number is left off certified copies. Only certain people can ask for a copy that shows it, and they must prove their identity. They include:

• The spouse
• A child, grandchild or great-grandchild
• The executor or administrator of the estate, or an attorney representing them
• An agent under the deceased's power of attorney
• A licensed funeral director (or their employee or agent) acting for one of these people
• Others listed in the law, such as county veterans service officers, law enforcement and anyone authorized by law to act for the deceased or the estate

Ohio has two kinds of offices that issue death certificates: local health departments and the state Department of Health.

Local health departments (often the fastest)

Local registrars of vital statistics work out of city and county health departments and health districts. ODH says more than 100 local offices offer in-person or other same-day options. Find yours in the ODH Local Vital Statistics Directory, which lists each office's address, phone, website and fee.

• What they can issue varies. Many local offices issue certificates for deaths anywhere in Ohio from 1971 on. Columbus, Cincinnati, Clinton County and Summit County all say so. Others describe their service only for deaths in their own county; Athens, for example, lists deaths "occurring in Athens County." Call the office before you go to confirm it can issue the record you need.
• Examples of how local offices work: Columbus Public Health takes walk-ins at 240 Parsons Ave., Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and says mail orders typically take 7 to 10 business days if the record is on the state system. Cincinnati offers same-day pickup at 1525 Elm Street and phone orders at 1-866-550-1853. Athens processes in-person requests while you wait and mail requests within 1 business day. Summit County takes phone orders 24 hours a day.
• Deaths before 1971: contact the local health department where the death happened.

Ohio Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics

The state holds death records from 1971 to the present and only searches records from the past 50 years. Older records must come from a local office. Questions: (614) 466-2531.

• Online: order through VitalChek, the portal linked from the ODH ordering page. Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express are accepted. Orders are processed within 5 business days and shipped by regular U.S. mail, which ODH says takes about 3 weeks in the continental U.S. There is no expedited option, and orders cannot be canceled once submitted.
• By mail: send the application (HEA 2701) with a check or money order payable to "Treasurer, State of Ohio" (no cash) to: Ohio Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, PO Box 15098, Columbus, Ohio 43215-0098. Mail orders typically take 4 to 6 weeks. After 3 weeks, you can check status by emailing Vitalstat@odh.ohio.gov.
• In person: 4200 Surface Road, Columbus, Ohio 43228. The counter is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., but same-day service there is for birth records only. In-person death record requests are fulfilled within 5 business days.

For a standard certified copy:

• The deceased's full name, date of death, and the city or county where the death happened
• A signed application (the state uses form HEA 2701; local offices may use their own)
• Payment: $21.50 per copy at the state, or the local office's fee

No ID is needed for a standard copy. Cincinnati, for example, says no identification is required because Ohio is an open state.

For a copy that shows the Social Security number (deaths within the last 5 years): on the state application, check the box requesting a copy with the SSN and attach a copy of your identification showing you are an authorized requester. Some local offices ask for more. Summit County, for example, asks for proof of identification plus proof of relationship. We did not find a list of acceptable ID types on the ODH pages we reviewed, so contact the office to confirm what it accepts.

Official sources disagree in one case: Summit County Public Health's page says ID and proof of relationship are not required unless you want the SSN shown, but also says they are required for all death record requests. If you are ordering there, call ahead to confirm.

ODH lists only certified death record copies. We did not find a separate informational copy of a recent death record on the state's pages. Under Ohio law, a certified copy is treated "for all purposes the same as the original."

The real choice in Ohio is whether the copy includes the Social Security number. For the first 5 years after death, the SSN is left off unless an authorized person asks for it and proves their identity. Executors and administrators are on that list. If you are not sure which version a bank, insurer or agency will accept, contact them to confirm before you order.

The funeral director registers the death with the local registrar in the district where the death happened (ORC 3705.16). The funeral director gathers the personal details, usually from the family, and gets the cause of death certified by the doctor or coroner. The doctor or coroner must complete and sign the medical part within 48 hours of being notified of the death.

Burial or cremation cannot happen until the local registrar (or sub-registrar) issues a permit, which requires a death certificate (or, for burial, a provisional one) to be filed first (ORC 3705.17). When a provisional certificate is used, the complete certificate is due within 5 days after the death. Since late 2025, funeral homes, coroners and physicians register deaths electronically in the Ohio Vital Records System.

We did not find a statewide figure from ODH for how soon after a death you can order copies. If the cause of death is pending with a coroner, the certificate can take longer to complete. Funeral directors can request certified copies, so ask your funeral home whether copies are included in its services.

The number you need depends on how many banks, insurers and agencies will ask for a certified copy as you settle the estate. At the state, every copy costs the same $21.50, with no discount for ordering more at once. For help estimating, see our guide on how many copies.

Corrections to Ohio death records are made by affidavit or amended record (ORC 3705.22).

• Personal details (such as a name or date): a sworn affidavit from someone with personal knowledge of the correct fact. Funeral homes and local registrars can create these affidavits in the state's electronic system. For records outside a local office's area or from before 2007, a paper affidavit form is used.
• Cause of death and other medical information: only the attending physician named on the record or the coroner of the county where the death happened can correct it.
• One correction per item: once an item has been corrected, it cannot be changed again without a court order.

We did not find a family-facing correction guide or a correction fee on the ODH pages we reviewed. Contact the funeral home or your local vital statistics office to confirm the steps.

Official ways to order an Ohio death certificate:

• The Ohio Department of Health, online through the VitalChek portal it links to, by mail, or in person
• Your local health department's vital statistics office, found in the ODH Local Vital Statistics Directory

Other websites may offer to order an Ohio death certificate for you, but they are not listed by ODH. Start from the ODH website or your local health department's own site to make sure you are ordering from an official source.