Who Can Order a Certified Copy
Vermont law limits certified copies to certain people. You can order if you are the person's:
- Spouse, child, grandchild, parent, sibling or grandparent
- Legal guardian
- Person petitioning to open the estate
- Court-appointed executor or administrator
- Legal representative of any of the people above
Others who can order include the person with authority over final disposition (or a funeral home or crematorium acting for them), the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the deceased's insurance carrier if it pays benefits to survivors or beneficiaries.
Anyone else needs a court order finding that a certified copy is needed. You must send a certified copy of the court order. Photocopies are not accepted.
How to Order
Vermont keeps one statewide database of death records from January 1, 1909 to the present. You can order from a local town or city clerk, or from the state.
Town and city clerks (in person)
The Health Department says that for people in Vermont, ordering from your town or city clerk is the fastest and cheapest way to get a copy. Because clerks print from the statewide system, most clerks can issue a certified copy for any Vermont death from 1909 on, not just deaths in their town. For deaths in 1908 and earlier, only the clerk whose office holds the record can issue it.
Vermont has about 247 town and city clerks, and most issue death certificates. A clerk may opt out, and there is no published list of which ones do, so call ahead. Find hours, phone numbers and addresses in the Secretary of State's town clerk directory. Turnaround at clerk offices is not published. Contact the office to confirm.
Counties do not issue death certificates in Vermont.
Vermont Department of Health, Office of Vital Records
- Online: Order through the Vermont Department of Health Vital Records Ordering Service on Vermont.gov and pay by credit card. Each certified copy costs $12 ($10 fee plus a $2 processing fee). Most orders ship by standard U.S. mail within 5 to 7 business days. Expedited overnight shipping is a flat $14.50 extra.
- By mail: Fill out the Application for Certified Copy of Vermont Birth or Death Certificate. Mail it with a copy of your ID, a check or money order payable to the Vermont Department of Health, and a self-addressed envelope to: Vermont Department of Health, Vital Records, 280 State Drive, Waterbury, VT 05671-8370. The state does not publish a processing time for mail orders.
Vital Records phone: 802-863-7275 (toll-free within Vermont: 800-439-5008). Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The state does not say whether its Waterbury office serves walk-in customers, so call before you go.
No official page offers ordering by phone.
What to Bring or Send
Every application needs a copy of valid ID. Send one current, unexpired ID from the state's primary list, such as:
- U.S. driver's license or state ID card
- U.S. or foreign passport
- Tribal ID or U.S. military ID with your signature
- Green card (Form I-551) or Employment Authorization Document (Form I-765)
- An "Affidavit of Homeless Status" form or Vermont Department of Corrections documentation
If you don't have one of these, send two documents from the alternate list, such as a Social Security or Medicare card with your signature, voter registration card, car registration or title, bank statement, utility bill or court documents. Together they must show your current address and signature.
The address on your ID must match the mailing address on your application. By mail, send readable photocopies.
Family members do not need to send a separate document proving the relationship. The application asks you to check a box for your relationship and sign a statement that the information is true. False statements can bring a fine of up to $10,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
Certified vs. Informational Copies
Vermont issues two kinds of copies:
- Certified copy: Printed on state security paper with a raised seal. Costs $10. Only eligible people can order it. By law it is evidence of the facts on the certificate, so it is the copy banks, insurers and courts usually ask for.
- Noncertified copy: Printed on plain white paper with a "noncertified copy" watermark. Free from the Health Department; request it by email at vitalrecords@vermont.gov. It is not evidence of the facts on the certificate, with one exception: it can be recorded in a town's land records to show the date of death of someone who owned an interest in property.
When Certificates Are Available
The licensed health care professional who last attended the person must submit the medical part of the death report within 24 hours of the death. A doctor, physician assistant, naturopathic physician or advanced practice registered nurse certifies the cause of death.
The funeral director usually completes the rest. The health care professional can hand off the non-medical part to the funeral director, and most of that information comes from the family. Funeral directors and certifiers file the record online through the state's Electronic Death Registration System.
Once the record is completed in that system, it is registered and becomes available to town clerks. The state does not publish a typical number of days before copies can be ordered, and a death that needs a medical examiner's investigation may take longer. A funeral home or crematorium can apply for certified copies for the family, so many families get their first copies that way. Your funeral director can tell you when the record is filed.
How Many Copies You Need
Many banks, insurers, and agencies want their own certified copy, and in Vermont there is no discount for extra copies. Counting the accounts and agencies you will contact helps you order the right number at once. See our guide on how many copies for a simple way to count.
Fixing an Error
In Vermont, a family member cannot request the change directly. The request must come from the certifying health care professional, the medical examiner, the hospital, the nursing home, or the funeral director.
- Within six months of the death, the certificate can be corrected.
- After six months, it can be amended.
The state's forms are "Request to Correct a Death Certificate - Demographics" and "Request to Correct a Death Certificate - Medical." If a detail is wrong, contact the funeral director or the doctor who signed the certificate to start.
Only Order From Official Sources
The official ways to order a Vermont death certificate are:
- A Vermont town or city clerk's office
- The Vermont Department of Health, by mail
- The state's online Vital Records Ordering Service on Vermont.gov, linked from the Health Department's site
Other websites may offer to order a certificate for you, but they are not run by the state. If a site is not on a vermont.gov or healthvermont.gov address, it is not an official channel.