Florida Death Records: Public vs. Confidential, Fees, and How to Order

Florida death records are held by the Bureau of Vital Statistics inside the Department of Health, and anyone can order a certified copy for a small fee. What you see on the certificate depends on who you are. The standard public version omits the cause of death and most of the Social Security number. The full version, with cause of death and medical details, is confidential for 50 years after the death and is released only to family members and other specifically eligible requesters.¹

The Public Version and the Confidential Version

Florida Statutes Section 382.025 splits death certificates into two tiers based on content. A certificate without cause of death and without the full Social Security number is a public record that any requester can order.¹ The cause-of-death and related medical information is classified as confidential under Section 382.008 and is exempt from Florida’s public records law.²

That confidentiality drops away 50 years after the date of death, at which point cause of death becomes part of the public record.¹ The Social Security number works differently. No matter how old the record is, a public request produces a certificate with the first five digits of the decedent’s SSN redacted; only the last four appear. The full number is only released with the confidential version to an eligible requester.³

The public version is enough for most estate transfers, property retitling, and closing accounts. Life insurance claims, wrongful-death matters, and medical research usually require the confidential version because they need the cause of death on the document itself.

One boundary worth flagging: fetal death records follow separate, much stricter rules, with a 125-year confidentiality period and a narrower list of who can request the confidential portions.⁴ If that’s what you need, the ordering process is not the one described here.

Who Can Get the Confidential Version

Within the 50-year window, the Department of Health will release a death certificate that includes the cause of death only to the following requesters:³

The decedent’s spouse or parent, with no age restriction.
A child, grandchild, or sibling who is at least 18.
Anyone with a documented interest in the estate, shown by a will, life insurance policy, or similar document.
An authorized representative acting for one of the eligible people above, with proof of that authority.
A federal, state, or local government agency for an official purpose, with department approval.
Any person presenting an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

Attorneys and funeral directors can order confidential certificates on a client’s behalf. They must supply their professional license number and identify by name and relationship the eligible person they represent.⁵ When the attorney or funeral director is not directly representing an eligible person, a notarized Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information (Form DH 1959) signed by an eligible person must be included, along with photo identification for both the person authorizing release and the applicant.⁶

What to Put on the Application

Every request uses Form DH 727, the Application for Florida Death or Fetal Death Certificate.⁶ Florida Administrative Code Rule 64V-1.0131 sets out what information the Bureau needs to release a record.⁷ To locate the record, give:

The decedent’s full legal name.
The date of death, or an approximate range if the exact date is unknown.
The county where the death occurred.
The Social Security number, if you have it, to narrow the search.

The form also asks for your relationship to the deceased and the purpose of the request. If the exact date of death is unknown, the Bureau charges an extra fee for each additional calendar year it has to search.

For any request that asks for cause-of-death information, include a copy of valid photo identification. Acceptable IDs include a driver’s license, state-issued ID card, passport, military ID, resident alien card, or concealed weapons license.⁷ Mailed requests need copies of both the front and back. The signature on the application should match the signature on the ID, since mismatches cause delays.

How to Order and What It Costs

You can submit a request three ways.

Online Through VitalChek

VitalChek is the only third-party vendor the Florida Department of Health recommends for online orders.⁸ It takes credit cards and provides order tracking, but it adds its own processing and shipping fees on top of the state fee.

By Mail

Mail the completed DH 727, copies of your photo ID if you are requesting the cause of death, and a check or money order to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville. Between postal transit and the Bureau’s processing queue, plan for several weeks.

In Person

Many County Health Department offices process death certificate requests for deaths that happened within their county, and in-person turnaround is fast. Expedited shipping to another address is available for an extra fee.

Fees

The state fee is $5.00 for the first year searched and includes one certified copy if the record is found. Each additional copy ordered at the same time costs $4.00.⁹ If the Bureau has to search additional years, each year carries its own search fee, and those fees are non-refundable even if no matching record turns up. The fees are authorized by Florida Statutes Section 382.0255.¹⁰ Ordering extra certified copies at the same time is almost always cheaper than coming back for another copy later.

Older Records for Genealogy

After 50 years, cause of death becomes public, so any requester can obtain the full certificate without proving a family relationship.¹ The Social Security number is still partially redacted on public requests regardless of the record’s age.³

Coverage of very old deaths is uneven. Florida death recording was limited between 1877 and 1917, and a record for a given death from that period may simply not exist at the state level.¹¹ County offices and local historical archives sometimes hold records from that era that the state does not.

Correcting an Error on a Certificate

If a certificate contains a factual error, an eligible party can apply to amend it using Form DH 524 (Application for Amendment to Florida Death or Fetal Death Record) together with Form DH 433 (Affidavit of Amendment of Certificate of Death). Instructions on Form DH 670 explain what supporting documents are needed for the type of correction you are requesting.¹²

The amendment fee is $20.00, non-refundable, and covers one certified copy of the corrected record.¹² Depending on the correction, you may need documentary proof of the true information. Corrections made soon after the certificate is filed are generally easier than ones attempted years later.

Apostilles for Use Outside the U.S.

A Florida death certificate that will be used in another country party to the Hague Apostille Convention needs an apostille from the Florida Department of State. The fee is $10.00 per document. Certificates originally certified by a Florida Clerk of Court cost $20.00 per document because a Certificate of Incumbency is required as well.¹³

Complete the Department of State’s Apostille and Notarial Certificate Request Form and mail it with the original certified death certificate (photocopies aren’t accepted), a check or money order payable to “Florida Department of State,” and a self-addressed stamped envelope or pre-paid air bill. Credit cards and cash are not accepted. The mailing address is the Division of Corporations’ Apostille Section at 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810, Tallahassee, FL 32303.¹³ Order at least one extra certified copy before sending one for apostille. The Department of State keeps the original you submit.

Penalties for Fraudulent Requests

Florida treats vital-records fraud as a third-degree felony. That covers using false information to obtain a death certificate, possessing a forged or altered certificate, and furnishing a fraudulent record to someone else. A Department of Health employee who knowingly issues a certificate for deceptive purposes faces the same charge, as does anyone who possesses a certificate they know was stolen or unlawfully obtained. A third-degree felony in Florida is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 382.025 – Certified Copies of Vital Records; Confidentiality; Research
2
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 382.008 – Death and Fetal Death Registration
3
Florida Department of Health. Death Certificates
4
Florida Department of Health. Fetal Deaths
5
Florida Department of Health. Application for a Florida Death Record
6
Florida Department of Health. Application for Florida Death or Fetal Death Certificate
7
Cornell Law School. Florida Administrative Code 64V-1.0131 – Certifications of Vital Records; Information Required for Release; Applicant Identification Requirements
8
Florida Department of Health. Certificates and Records
9
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Where to Write for Vital Records – Florida
10
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 382.0255 – Fees
11
Library of Congress. Florida: Local History and Genealogy Resource Guide – Vital Records
12
Florida Department of Health. Amendments and Corrections
13
Florida Department of State. Authentications (Apostilles and Notarial Certifications)