Death Certificates
Death Registration & Official Death Certificate
Our licensed Funeral Director will register the death and get the initial copies that you purchase during the arrangement conference for you. The death is registered in the state or District of Columbia where the death occurred not where the person established their residency.
You would determine how many of the death certificates that you think you will need during the arrangement conference . The cost of each certified copy of the death certificates is determined by the states. Our General Price List will include these costs. You may order as many as you like. If you select courier services you will pay an additional expense for these services.
Multiple copies of the death certificate are generally needed when handling the affairs—family members often want a copy to keep for themselves, closing bank accounts, insurance policies, settling retirement accounts, settling an estate, real estate transactions, car title transfers etc.—of someone who has passed away.
Don’t worry if you don’t think you ordered enough. You may order death certificates in the future through the states vital records office.
Official death certificates will be submitted by your funeral director after all the vital statistics provided by the family (also known as demographics ) are provided by the decedents family or representative, cause of death and physician signature are all finalized after the death. There is no exact time frame for this process however most are completed within 10 days from the date family provides the demographic information. We work with the doctors , hospice organizations , and medical examiners together to gather the information for filing with the Commonwealth of Virginia , District of Columbia and Maryland where we are licensed . In the event the death occurs in another state we will partner with a licensed funeral home to have the certificate filed as appropriate.