Illinois Death Certificate PDF: Requests, Fees, and Corrections

To get a copy of an Illinois death certificate, submit the Illinois Department of Public Health form titled “Application for Search of Death Record Files,” along with a photocopy of your government-issued photo ID and the required fee. You can file it by mail, online through VitalChek, in person at the Division of Vital Records in Springfield, or through the county clerk where the death occurred.¹ Plan around the timing: standard mail requests currently take about 12 weeks, and IDPH will not send status updates while yours is in the queue.²

Certified or Uncertified Copy

Order the wrong version and you will waste both. A certified copy carries the state registrar’s seal and is what banks, insurance companies, courts, and government agencies require for legal transactions such as settling an estate or claiming benefits.³ An uncertified copy is a plain paper reproduction meant for informational or genealogical use, and no institution will accept it for legal purposes. If you are handling an estate or a financial claim, you need the certified version.

Who Is Allowed to Request One

Illinois restricts access to death records under the Vital Records Act.⁴ Surviving spouses, children, parents, siblings, and other immediate family members generally qualify automatically. You also qualify if you have a “property right” at stake, which IDPH defines as something tangible like a car title or property deed, so anyone transferring assets of the deceased is covered.³

If you are not a relative, you must attach a letter or document from the office or agency that needs the certificate.³ Attorneys handling estate or wrongful death matters, insurance companies verifying a policyholder’s death, and financial institutions releasing funds fit here. The letter should identify the specific legal or financial purpose.

For genealogy, uncertified copies are available when the person died more than 20 years ago, and you can request them from IDPH or from the county clerk where the death occurred.⁵

What the Application Asks For

The form needs enough detail to locate the correct record. For the deceased, provide the full legal name at time of death, exact date of death, gender, and Social Security number.⁶ The Social Security number matters most when the name is common. You also list the place of death by hospital (if applicable), city or town, county, and state, then fill in your own name, mailing address, and relationship to the deceased.

Type or print in every field. Incomplete or illegible applications get rejected, and you start over. The signature line is not a formality; you are attesting under penalty of law that the information is accurate.

Identification You Have to Include

Every request needs a legible photocopy of your current, unexpired, government-issued photo ID. IDPH accepts an Illinois driver’s license, state ID card, U.S. passport, FOID card, active duty military ID, Veterans Administration photo medical card, or a federally issued tribal ID card.⁷

If your photo ID has been expired more than six months, or you do not have one, you can substitute two documents. The first can be a medical insurance card, auto insurance card, voter registration card, bank statement, or credit card statement. The second must be a piece of current mail showing your full name and legal mailing address.⁷ Requests without valid ID come back unprocessed.

How to Submit the Request

By Mail

Send the completed application, a photocopy of your ID, and payment to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, 925 E. Ridgely Ave., Springfield, IL 62702.¹ Pay by check or money order made out to the Illinois Department of Public Health. No cash. Standard processing runs about 12 weeks from the day IDPH receives the paperwork, with no updates in between.²

Expedited Mail

You can cut the turnaround to five to seven business days for a certified copy, but paying more is not enough on its own. You need to send the application by overnight delivery (FedEx, UPS, etc.), include written proof of your immediate need, and enclose a prepaid overnight return envelope so IDPH can ship the certificate back the same way.² Miss any of those three pieces and the request drops into the standard 12-week queue.

Online Through VitalChek

VitalChek is the state’s authorized online vendor. You order and pay by credit card on their site and skip the mail.² The base state fees still apply, $19 for the first certified copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same record.⁸ VitalChek adds its own processing and shipping charges, so the total runs noticeably higher than a mail request. Check current pricing on their site before you order.

In Person

The Division of Vital Records office at 925 E. Ridgely Ave. in Springfield is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for issuance of birth and death records only.¹ Walk-ins during those hours can be handled; other kinds of requests dropped off in person will not be processed the same day.

Through a County Clerk

You can also request a death certificate from the county clerk in the county where the death occurred.² Fees and processing times vary by county, so call the specific clerk’s office first. For older genealogical records, the county route is often faster than going through the state.

Fees

Through IDPH, the state fee is $19 for the first certified copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time.² Those amounts apply to mail and online orders alike; VitalChek layers its own fees on top. Ordering copies together saves real money, because only the first carries the full $19 charge.

Most estate work needs more than one certified copy. Banks, insurance companies, the Social Security Administration, and the probate court may each want their own. Three to five copies ordered upfront is a common approach that keeps you from waiting another 12 weeks when another institution asks.

Fixing an Error on the Certificate

A misspelled name, wrong birth date, or incorrect Social Security number can stall an estate or insurance claim. To correct one, complete the state’s “Affidavit and Certificate of Correction Request” form, sign it before a notary, and mail it to the Division of Vital Records with a $15 fee (check or money order to IDPH), a copy of your photo ID, and documentation proving the correct information.⁹

Acceptable proof includes baptismal or confirmation records, census records, military records, insurance policies, Social Security records, or a child’s birth record showing the correct spelling or date. If IDPH finds the documentation insufficient, you will need a court order to make the change.¹⁰

Medical fields work differently. Changes to cause of death, manner of death, autopsy status, time of death, or injury details require a Certificate of Death Worksheet signed by the certifying physician. You cannot amend those yourself, whatever your relationship to the deceased.¹⁰ Corrections sent by overnight delivery with a prepaid return envelope follow an expedited 15 business day timeline.²

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Illinois Department of Public Health. Birth, Death, Other Records
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Obtain Death Certificate
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Death Records
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Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 410 ILCS 535/25 – Search of Files Certification Fee
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Genealogy – Death Records
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Application for Search of Death Record Files
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Application for Illinois Death Record – Identification Requirements
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VitalChek. Illinois Dept. of Public Health – Order Certificates
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Affidavit and Certificate of Correction Request Instructions
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Illinois Department of Public Health. Correct Death Certificate