Los Angeles County vs the state of California

A death in Los Angeles County is an L.A. County record. Do not write to the California Department of Public Health in Sacramento first. CDPH itself says you can often obtain a certified copy more quickly from the county office where the death was registered.

Which county desk

Los Angeles County has two counters, and they are not interchangeable.

• Department of Public Health Vital Records, 313 N. Figueroa Street, Room Lobby-1, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Deaths that occurred in L.A. County in the current year or the previous year, except Pasadena and Long Beach. Copies are available 10 days after the original certificate is registered. DPH lists $26 per certified copy.
• Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Death records in L.A. County since 1877. Authorized certified copies are $26. Deaths from 1995 to the present can be issued at a scheduled appointment. Records from 1877–1994, and all informational certified copies, are mailed within about 20 business days. Bring a valid photo ID. Appointments may be booked up to three weeks out.

Pasadena and Long Beach keep their own recent death records. If the death was in either city, DPH will send you elsewhere. Use that city’s local registrar, or the Registrar-Recorder for older years.

When Sacramento is the right mail

Use CDPH Vital Records when you cannot reach a county counter, or when the death was in another California county. Mail form VS 112, a notarized sworn statement (VS 20), and $26 per copy payable to “CDPH-VR” to Vital Records – MS 5103, P.O. Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410. CDPH’s average time to process a certified-copy request is 4 to 6 weeks after they receive it. There is no cheaper extra copy. Every copy is $26.

Authorized vs informational

Banks, insurers, and title offices want an authorized certified copy. An informational certified copy looks official and costs the same $26, but it is stamped “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY.” It will bounce. Under California Health and Safety Code section 103526, authorized copies go to a parent or legal guardian, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse or domestic partner, a funeral director acting for the family, an attorney or court-appointed representative of the estate, or a government agency on official business. Anyone else should ask for informational only if they do not need to claim money or transfer property.

County and state both list $26 per death copy as of 2026. Confirm the current fee on the office you will use before you write a check. Online orders, where offered, go through a vendor; you pay the copy fee plus their convenience and shipping. This desk takes no cut.