How New Hampshire Death Records Work

New Hampshire keeps death records under 'direct and tangible interest' rules for 50 years. The office itself is an outlier — vital records sit under the Secretary of State, not the health department. No informational copies inside the window; the $15 search fee is non-refundable.

Any town clerk in the state can search the statewide registration system, regardless of where the death occurred. Content reviewed July 30, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

Where to Order

New Hampshire Division of Vital Records Administration
Official Free
The official custodian. Application forms, current fees, eligibility rules, and processing times — order direct and skip the third-party markup.
🌐 sos.nh.gov
CDC — Where to Write for Vital Records
Official Free
The federal directory of every state's vital records office — the authoritative answer to 'where do I order' for any state and any year.
🌐 www.cdc.gov

Frequently Asked Questions

When do New Hampshire death certificates become public?
New Hampshire keeps death records under 'direct and tangible interest' rules for 50 years.
What can non-family requesters get?
No informational copies inside the window; the $15 search fee is non-refundable.
Is there a free New Hampshire death index online?
No public online index; order from the division in Concord or any of the 234 city and town clerks statewide.
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 New Hampshire Records

The New Hampshire vital records page covers the full birth-marriage-death picture; birth certificates follow their own (usually longer) privacy clock; probate lives in New Hampshire court records; and people search shows how death records fit a full person lookup. County pages list the local offices that issue copies.