Online Death Certificates

This article was updated on 14 May 2008.

Here is a list of some currently available or forthcoming collections of online digitized death certificates (some are free, some fee-based).

Arizona
Arizona Death Certificates 1844-1957 (free) also includes birth certificates 1855-1932

Georgia
Georgia Death Certificates 1919-1927 (free)

Illinois: Chicago and Cook County (forthcoming)
The Cook County Clerk's office has been digitizing their birth, marriage and death certificates with plans to put these online, possibly in June or July, 2008. The plan is to include birth certificates more than 75 years old, marriage certificates more than 50 years old, and death certificates more than 20 years old. The records will go back as far as 1871 -- earlier records were lost in the Chicago Fire. For now you can see some indexes that are available at: Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Kentucky
As part of their subscription-based collection of genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1953. See: Online Kentucky Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Missouri
Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1957 (free) from the Missouri State Archives

Ohio (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Ohio death certificates from 1908-1953. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. (free)

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Philadelphia City death certificates from 1803-1915. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. (free)

Texas (ongoing project)
Footnote has been scanning Texas death certificates and adding them to their website. They presently have over 200,000 death certificates available, mostly from 1902-1917 with more being added. You can download a copy of a single death certificate from Footnote for just $1.95 (price subject to change) -- the Texas Department of Health charges $20 for a mail order copy. Or you can buy a monthly or yearly subscription to Footnote's collection of historical records. See: Texas Death Certificates at Footnote

Utah
Utah Death Certificates 1905-1956 (free)

West Virginia
West Virginia Death Certificates 1917-1957 (free) has earlier records for some counties - also has birth and marriage records for some counties

Other States - Death Indexes
For a directory of online death indexes, including some cemetery records, obituaries, and probate records see: Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records