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Ten Copies

Clerk's desk/September 25, 2026

Place of death, not the home address

Order the certified copy from the state, and usually the county, where the death occurred. The home address on the mail is not the office that holds the record.

USA.gov tells you to contact the vital records office of the state where the death occurred, and to know the date and place of death. The home state will not have a death that happened somewhere else. Florida's county health departments say the same: they issue Florida deaths only, and a death outside Florida goes to that other state. New York State will not issue a New York City death. Those copies come from the city health department.

County of death is not county of residence

  • CDC's handbook treats them as two lines. County of death is the county of the hospital, nursing home, or street address where death occurred. County of residence is where the person lived.
  • A death in a hospital across the county line, or across a state line, is filed where the hospital sits. Do not mail the old house's county clerk.
  • If the place of death is unknown and the body is found in a state, CDC says to enter the place the body was found.
  • Ask the funeral home for the city, county, and state printed as place of death before you pay the wrong desk.

This desk does not decide jurisdiction and does not give legal advice. If you are not sure which county printed the record, call that funeral home or the two offices before you send a fee. A no-record search is often not refunded.