Death certificates, free indexes, obituaries, and probate — who can order what, and when records open.
How Arkansas Death Records Work
Arkansas closes death certificates for 50 years under state law, limiting copies to kin and documented legal or benefit claims. Cause-of-death copies are gated even tighter than the base record. No informational option — and the $10 fee is kept as a search fee even when no record is found.
Online orders add roughly $7 in portal and ID-verification fees on top of the $10 certificate, so mail can be the cheaper route. Content reviewed July 30, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Often you don't need the certificate at all — you need proof the death happened. There is no free official index; Arkansas runs its own online ordering portal rather than VitalChek. Where an index exists, it answers the question for free.
2
Obituaries and the SSDI
The obituary route is faster than most official channels: newspaper obituaries via library databases, funeral-home notices, and the Social Security death index carried on the big genealogy platforms together confirm most deaths within minutes.
3
Let probate prove it
Probate is the overlooked confirmer: if an estate was opened, the county court file proves the death, names the parties, and often matters more than the certificate itself — run it through Arkansas court records.
4
When only the certificate will do
When it truly must be the certificate: the rules above apply — 50 years after death in Arkansas — and the custodian card at the top is the direct channel. For family history at scale, pair this page with the Arkansas birth certificates guide, whose clock runs differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long are Arkansas death records restricted?
Arkansas closes death certificates for 50 years under state law, limiting copies to kin and documented legal or benefit claims.
Can I get a copy if I'm not family?
No informational option — and the $10 fee is kept as a search fee even when no record is found.
Can I search Arkansas deaths online for free?
There is no free official index; Arkansas runs its own online ordering portal rather than VitalChek.
What if I just need to confirm a death or find an obituary?
Skip the certificate entirely: newspaper obituaries (many are indexed by library databases), the Social Security death index carried on the big genealogy platforms, and probate case files in the county court that handled the estate all confirm a death without touching the restricted certificate.
Related Arkansas Records
The Arkansas vital records page covers the full birth-marriage-death picture; birth certificates follow their own (usually longer) privacy clock; probate lives in Arkansas court records; and people search shows how death records fit a full person lookup. County pages list the local offices that issue copies.
