Alaska runs its vital records from one section of the Department of Health, Health Analytics and Vital Records, with walk in counters in Juneau and Anchorage, and the vital records orders page is blunt about the ways in: in person at those two offices, by mail or fax using the state forms, or online through VitalChek. Orders by email or telephone are not accepted. The section says it works with no third party vendor except VitalChek, and that other companies which charge high fees to process or help apply for Alaska certificates may or may not be fraudulent, with no guarantee that their requests ever arrive.
The record itself follows an age rule. All vital records are strictly confidential until they are released as public records, and for a death that happens 50 years after the event, compared with 100 years for a birth. Until then a certified copy goes only to a spouse, parent, child or sibling listed or proven, to the Office of Public Advocacy with conservatorship or guardianship papers, or to an attorney or government agency writing on letterhead with supporting documents. After the 50 years, anyone can order the record, and the death form prices a Public Record White Copy at $15 for exactly that case.
- $30 then $25: the first certified death certificate costs $30 and each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time costs $25.
- Two to three months: the section asks mail and fax applicants to expect that long, against two to three weeks for a VitalChek order.
- 50 years: a death record becomes public 50 years after the event, when anyone can buy a $15 white copy.
- Proof from outside Alaska: a spouse married elsewhere sends the marriage certificate, and a child, parent or sibling born elsewhere sends the birth certificate that links them.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Alaska's own systems: the Alaska Department of Health vital records orders page, the Alaska death certificate request form, April 2026 revision, the Health Analytics and Vital Records section page, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Who may order an Alaska death certificate
The death certificate request form, revised in April 2026, lists the entitled relatives and the proof each one owes. The spouse listed on the certificate sends a copy of the marriage certificate if the marriage was not in Alaska. A parent listed on the death certificate sends the decedent's birth certificate if the death was of someone born elsewhere, because the section checks the parent's name against it. A child sends his or her own birth certificate naming the decedent as a parent if the child was not born in Alaska, and a sibling sends a birth certificate showing at least one parent in common. Anyone born or married in Alaska is checked against the state's own files instead.
Two other applicants are allowed. The Office of Public Advocacy qualifies with certified papers delegating conservatorship or guardianship, and an attorney or government agency qualifies with a letter on letterhead naming the client and the reason the record is needed, backed by original certified or notarized documents. The form adds that Alaska Vital Records will determine entitlement, so a cousin, a landlord or an insurer that cannot fit one of these lines will not get a certified copy until the record turns 50.
Fees, shipping and payment
A certified death certificate costs $30 for the first copy and $25 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time, and the services and fees list prices the same first and additional copies for birth and marriage certificates. The form adds an apostille fee of $12 for the first copy and $2 for each additional copy when the certificate will be used in a foreign country, and $30 for a paternity, correction, adoption or legal name change processing request.
Regular mail is free but untracked. Priority Mail with tracking is $13 and with a signature on delivery $18, and the section says plainly that it is not responsible for items once they ship, so a lost untracked envelope means a new request with a new copy of identification and a new payment. If a tracked order is lost by the postal service, the section will replace it once. Mail and fax orders can be paid by check or money order to the Alaska Vital Records Office or by Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express written on the form; cash is taken only at the counter, a returned check costs $30, and duplicate orders placed by more than one method are charged for each.
What the mail really costs in weeks
The orders page gives two very different timelines. A request through VitalChek should take at least two to three weeks, and a request by mail or fax at least two to three months, with staff capacity named as the reason the times vary; an alert at the top of the same page in October 2026 puts current processing at one to two months. Expedited service is available only through VitalChek for an extra fee. No order can be filled until the death is registered, which the section says may take up to three months after the death itself, so a certificate ordered the week after a funeral may sit in the queue until the registration catches up. The section asks applicants not to contact the office until the stated time has passed.
An application has a shelf life. If the section writes asking for more documents or information and gets no answer, the application expires 180 days from the date of the letter, is closed for non response, and everything, including the payment, must be sent again as a new request. Shipping confirmation arrives by automated email from an outside address, with the section's name in the subject line.
Deaths more than 50 years old
Because death records open to the public after 50 years, Alaska is a workable state for family history. The death form carries a line for a Public Record White Copy at $15, to be used for deaths that occurred more than 50 years before the application date, and the fee list prices an Open Records White Copy at the same $15 and a Government Vital Record White Copy at $10. Where the researcher needs more than a copy, a special research request is billed at $75 per hour, and a Vital Record Verification Match, which confirms facts without issuing a document, is $2.50.
For a death outside Alaska the section refers readers to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Identification and the two offices
A photocopy of one government photo identification goes with every request, never the original: a driver license, a state identification card, a passport, a military identification or a tribal or Bureau of Indian Affairs card with a picture. An expired document is accepted if it expired less than a year ago, and someone with none of these is asked to call (907) 465-3391. Requests that arrive without the applicant's signature, the identification copy and the payment are not processed.
Mail goes to Health Analytics and Vital Records, P.O. Box 110675, Juneau, Alaska 99811-0675, and fax orders to (907) 465-3618. The Juneau walk in office is at 5441 Commercial Boulevard and the Anchorage office at 3901 Old Seward Highway, Suite 101, both open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The section asks that only one method be used per request, since each duplicate submission is charged.
Correcting a death certificate
Changes and corrections are handled by the Special Services Unit, reached at (907) 465-1200 or by email, which sends the forms and instructions. All death certificate correction requests must be mailed or hand delivered, because original documents or certified copies are required and court papers and affidavits with original signatures cannot be faxed or emailed. The form gives the standard processing time for a correction as three months with no expedited service, while the orders page asks for 16 weeks from the day the Special Services Unit receives the original document, not counting shipping, and the fee list prices a legal name change or record amendment at $60 including one certificate.
The section page gives a second email for that unit, doh.havrs.special.services@alaska.gov.
Where the record ends and the court begins
The section handles certificates, not case files. A divorce decree comes only from the Alaska Court System, and a divorce certificate from vital records is a one page summary that exists only if a VS-401 form was filed with the court. Estates and guardianships likewise live in the courts, and the Alaska public records law guide explains how state agency files are requested. The birth side of the same section, including the heirloom certificate and the 100 year rule, is covered in the Alaska birth certificates guide.
Questions about Alaska death records
Related Alaska records
Alaska readers can continue with the Alaska birth certificates guide for the same Juneau and Anchorage offices, the Alaska public records law guide for agency files, and the Alaska borough and census area pages.