The DC Vital Records Division maintains death certificates dating back to August 1874, and its death certificates page sets the privacy rule in one sentence: death records become public after 75 years, and all other death records are closed, with certified copies going only to people who are legally entitled and who present the required documents and fees. The page is unusually direct about who is shut out. By law, it says, cousins, nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbors and those without a specific interest are not allowed to order an individual's death certificate.
Entitlement is proven with paper. A spouse or domestic partner must be named as such on the certificate, a parent must be named on it, and an adult child, adult grandchild, sibling or grandparent must support the relationship with certified birth records, bringing the actual certificate for any birth outside the District. A legal guardian brings the sealed court order, a lawyer brings the retainer agreement, bar card and a letter on firm letterhead, a law enforcement officer brings a DC Superior Court subpoena and an unexpired work identification, and an interested party brings proof that the certificate relates to personal or property rights or to a court, insurance or estate matter. For deaths between 1874 and 1945 that have passed the 75 year mark, the DC Archives supplies unofficial copies.
- $18: the fee for a District death certificate and for a certificate of search covering three years when no record is found.
- 75 years: the age at which a District death record becomes public; the 1874 to 1945 records can also be had as unofficial copies from the DC Archives.
- Barred by name: cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbors cannot order a closed death certificate.
- Free second search: if the first search fails, a different date supplied within a year of the certificate of search is searched again at no charge.
Written by SearchSystems.net from District of Columbia's own systems: the DC Health death certificates page, the DC Health vital records page, the DC Health vital records fee schedule, the DC Vital Records Division search, exchange and return of fees policy, the DC Health page on amending a record, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The fee schedule and what the $18 covers
The fee schedule prices a death certificate at $18, a certified copy of a certificate at $18 and a certificate of search for a death record, covering three years searched, at $18 as well; a birth certificate is $23. An amendment to a death record is $23, a delayed record filing $23, an administrative copy for government use $10 and a verification for government use $5. The vital records page explains that under D.C. Code section 7-231.27(a)(2) the fee pays for the division to search its records, that the search fee is not refundable and includes one copy if the record is found, and that a Certificate of Search is issued when it is not. No record can be confirmed as available before purchase.
Remote orders through VitalChek
The division does not run its own remote ordering. Mail, telephone and online orders are placed through VitalChek, which adds $6 to a mailed application and $15.95 to a telephone or online order on top of the $18, with electronic identity verification built in; approved orders are then sent to the division and shipped from its fulfillment center in Washington. Telephone orders go to 1-877-572-6332. At the walk up counter the division takes credit and debit cards, checks, cash, money orders and voucher payments.
Walk up service on Shannon Place
The division sits at 2201 Shannon Place SE, near the Anacostia Metro station on the Green Line, and walk up service runs Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Domestic partnership registrations and terminations and acknowledgments of paternity need an appointment. The division says walk up customers can often get a death certificate the same day, with an exception for records that must be pulled from its off site archives: most records before 2005 for deaths have been digitized, but some originals must be ordered from the DC Archives or the Federal Records Center and take two to three weeks after identity, entitlement and payment are cleared.
Ordering in person means using a touch screen kiosk. The customer picks a language, chooses the certificate, states the relationship, answers questions about the decedent, then answers four or five questions about his or her own identity. A customer the kiosk can authenticate presents one primary photo identification, such as a state driver license, passport, permanent resident card, employment authorization card, Department of State card or military card; without a primary document the customer presents two alternates, such as an employment card with a recent pay stub, a Social Security card, a vehicle title, a voter registration card or a utility bill within 60 days.
A customer the kiosk cannot authenticate must produce three documents, at least one from the primary list. A name that differs from the certificate needs a marriage certificate or a sealed name change order.
Searches that fail and certificates that need fixing
The search, exchange and return of fees policy explains the three year search. The applicant gives the year the death is thought to have happened, and the division searches that year plus the year before and the year after, charging the Certificate of Search fee even when nothing is found, under D.C. Code section 7-221(a)(3). If within a year of the certificate of search the applicant supplies a different date, the division searches again for nothing, and a successful second search lets the applicant swap the certificate of search for the certificate at no extra charge.
Fees paid for extra copies of a record that was never found are returned, and so is the application fee of someone who cannot verify identity or entitlement.
The same policy governs a certificate that turns out to need an amendment, including a death record still pending investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. A walk up customer who spots the problem during the visit can leave the order on hold for 90 days, return with the supporting documents and the amendment fee, and receive the corrected certificate; if the 90 days pass, the original is mailed as it was. A customer who takes the original home cannot exchange it later. A mail customer must send the document back within 15 days of shipment and then has 90 days to supply the paperwork and fee.
Amending a District death certificate
The amending a record page limits death certificate amendments to the legal next of kin, the informant or the funeral director, or to someone holding an original DC Superior Court order naming them as entitled; a court order from another jurisdiction must first be domesticated through DC Superior Court unless it is a legal name change. Until further notice every amendment is requested remotely: the applicant downloads the death amendment application, or the court order or funeral director version, has the signatures notarized, mails copies of the identity documents and the supporting documents to the Customer Service and Certification Operations Unit at 2201 Shannon Place SE, and is told how to pay the $23 fee once the request is approved. A copy of the amended certificate costs the certificate fee on top.
The fields that can be amended on a death certificate are the sex or gender designation, the names of the parents, the marital or domestic partnership status, the informant's name and relationship, the decedent's education, occupation and military discharge status, the Social Security number and the cause and manner of death, each with its own documentary proof and an English translation for any foreign document. Remote applicants send three forms of identification, at least one from the primary list. A refused request gets a rejection letter, which is the paper needed to petition DC Superior Court for an order.
Old deaths, the Archives and the Medical Examiner
The division keeps deaths from August 1874, and with the 75 year rule every death before late 1951 is now public. For deaths from 1874 to 1945 the vital records page sends researchers to the District of Columbia Archives for an unofficial copy, while a certified copy of any year still comes from the division. A death that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is still investigating produces a certificate that may need amending once the cause is settled, and the fees policy treats that case the same as any other pending correction.
The division issues nothing for a death that happened in Maryland, Virginia or any other state, and refers those requests to the state where the death occurred.
Apostilles, complaints and where to read more
A death certificate for use abroad is authenticated by the DC Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications at (202) 727-3117, not by the division. Complaints about a funeral home, physician or medical facility that reported the death go to the licensing board named on the vital records page, and complaints about a deceptive ordering site go to the Office of the Attorney General consumer protection office. The birth side of the division is covered in the District of Columbia birth certificates guide, and requests to other District agencies in the District of Columbia public records law guide.
Questions about District of Columbia death records
Related District of Columbia records
District readers can continue with the District of Columbia birth certificates guide for the same division, the District of Columbia public records law guide, and the District of Columbia page for the Superior Court and the Archives.
A death certificate is also what the District of Columbia DMV needs to move a vehicle out of the deceased owner's name: transferring a vehicle after an owner dies in Washington DC, the Washington DC vehicle title and the rest of the Washington DC DMV.