How to Fill Out and Submit Georgia Death Certificate Form 3912

To get a certified Georgia death certificate, fill out Georgia death certificate Form 3912, attach a photocopy of your government-issued photo ID, and send it to the State Office of Vital Records with a $25 money order for the first copy. The form is a single page, available as a PDF from the Georgia Department of Public Health or at county probate courts and local health departments. Mail-in and online requests currently take up to 10 weeks to process.¹

Who Can Request a Certified Copy

Georgia does not issue certified death certificates to the general public. Under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-26, the certificate goes to a child, parent, legal living spouse, or other next of kin of the person who died.² An appointed executor or administrator of the estate qualifies, and so does someone who has applied in good faith to serve in that role.³

Beyond family and estate representatives, you can also request a certified copy if you need it to establish a legal right or claim, if you have a court order or subpoena, or if you are asking on behalf of a state or federal agency for official purposes.²

If your name does not appear on the death record itself, be ready to prove your relationship with a birth certificate, marriage license, or similar document. Requesters who cannot show eligibility receive only a non-certified informational copy, which will not carry the raised seal that banks, insurers, and courts require.

What to Gather Before You Start

Missing or inaccurate information is the most common reason a request gets rejected, and the $25 search fee is not refunded whether or not a record turns up. Have these details in hand before you open the form:

Full legal name of the deceased, including any suffix (Jr., Sr., III)
Exact date of death, or the closest date you can approximate
Georgia county where the death occurred — this is required on the form¹
Social Security number of the deceased, if you have it — not always mandatory, but it helps distinguish similar names

You also need your own full name, mailing address, phone number, your relationship to the deceased, and the reason you need the certificate (a life insurance claim, Social Security survivor benefits, or probate, for example).

Filling Out Form 3912

Download Form 3912 from the Georgia Department of Public Health’s death records page, or pick one up at a local probate court or county health department. Use black or blue ink and print clearly. The form is short, but the fields have to match official records: a misspelled name or wrong county sends the search in the wrong direction and burns your fee.

Enter how many certified copies you want. Ordering more than one at the same time is dramatically cheaper than coming back later, and most families need more than they first think (see below). Sign and date the form.

Photo ID You Must Include

Every request must include a photocopy of valid government-issued photo identification. Georgia requires both a signature and photo ID before a vital record can be released.⁴ Accepted forms:

Georgia driver’s license, unexpired or expired for no more than one year
Georgia state ID card, unexpired or expired for no more than one year
Unexpired United States passport

If the name or address on your ID does not match what you wrote on the application, include a brief explanation or supporting documentation.

How to Submit the Request

You have three ways to file: mail, online, or in person.

By Mail

Send the completed form, an ID photocopy, and payment to:

State Office of Vital Records
1680 Phoenix Blvd., Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30349
Phone: 404-679-4702

Payment for mailed requests must be a money order or certified check made out to the State Office of Vital Records. Personal checks are not accepted.⁵ Processing takes 8 to 10 weeks from the day the office receives a complete application, not the day you mail it.¹

Online

The Department of Public Health accepts online orders through three portals: ROVER, VitalChek, and GO Certificates.⁶ All three take Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.⁷ Online orders carry an $8 processing surcharge, and they use electronic identity verification instead of a mailed ID photocopy. Same office, same up-to-10-week processing window.

In Person

County probate courts and local health departments across Georgia handle vital records requests, and the Department of Public Health’s website has a location finder. In-person turnaround is often faster than mailing to Atlanta, though hours and wait times vary by county. Bring your completed Form 3912 (or fill one out on-site), your photo ID, and payment.

Fees

First certified copy: $25.00 (includes the search fee)
Each additional copy ordered at the same time: $5.00
Expedited shipping: $16.00 per order
Online processing surcharge: $8.00 per order

The $25 search fee is non-refundable once the search has been performed, whether or not a matching record is found.⁵

Processing Time and What “Expedited” Really Means

Plan on up to 10 weeks from the day the State Office of Vital Records receives a complete application.⁷ The $16 expedited shipping fee speeds up delivery after the certificate has been printed. It does not shorten the processing time.⁶ If you are working against an insurance filing window or a probate deadline, count on the full 10 weeks by mail or online, and consider going to a local office instead.

How Many Copies to Order

Most families order too few. Banks, insurers, government agencies, and courts almost always require an original certified copy with the raised seal, and each institution typically keeps the copy you hand over. Situations that each need their own certified copy include:

Filing for Social Security survivor benefits
Claiming life insurance (one per policy)
Closing or transferring bank and investment accounts
Transferring real estate titles or vehicle registrations
Settling employer-sponsored retirement plans or pensions
VA survivor or burial benefits

A common starting point is 10 to 15 copies, depending on the accounts and assets involved. At $5 per additional copy ordered up front, over-ordering costs a few dollars; going back later means a fresh $25 search fee for each new request.⁵

Fixing an Error on a Certificate You Already Received

If the certificate arrives with a misspelled name, a wrong date, or another factual error, the State Registrar can correct it. Obvious errors like transposed letters or minor omissions can be fixed on the original certificate within the first year after the date of death, sometimes on internal review alone, and the certificate is not marked “Amended” for a fix that small.⁸ More substantive changes require documentary evidence, and what counts as sufficient proof depends on the type of error.

One change always requires a court order: altering the marital status on the death certificate, or removing or changing the name of a surviving spouse. That cannot be done through the standard correction process.⁸

Before submitting anything for a correction, call the State Office of Vital Records at 404-679-4702 and confirm what documentation your specific fix needs. A five-minute call up front prevents weeks of back-and-forth.

1
Georgia Department of Public Health. Ways to Request a Vital Record – Death
2
Justia. Georgia Code 31-10-26 – Issuance of Certified Copies of Vital Records
3
Cornell Law Institute. Ga Comp R and Regs R 511-1-3-.33 – Disclosure of Vital Records and Information
4
Worth County Georgia. Death Certificates
5
Georgia Department of Public Health. Fees
6
Georgia Department of Public Health. Order Certificate Online
7
Georgia.gov. Order a Birth or Death Certificate
8
Cornell Law Institute. Ga Comp R and Regs R 511-1-3-.24 – Amendment of Minor Errors