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How to order a Delaware death certificate

Who holds it: DHSS Office of Vital Statistics; death records over 40 years old (through 1985) are at the Delaware Public Archives.1

Last checked against official sources on .

On this page
  1. How to search and order
  2. Who may order and what is restricted
  3. Related records in Delaware
  4. How Delaware handles it
  5. Death certificates in Delaware counties with a full guide
  6. Official warnings
  7. Official copies vs look-alike sites
  8. Sources

Fee

$25.00 per certificate (part goes to the distressed cemetery fund). One free certified copy of a veteran's death certificate to a relative when essential to settling a claim.2

Who may order

Same eligibility as birth records under 16 Del. C. § 3110(b): registrant's spouse, children, parents, guardian or authorized representatives, or persons showing a personal/property-rights need or genealogy purpose.3

How to search and order

How to order
Same as birth: in person at the three OVS offices, by mail, or via VitalChek/GoCertificates.4

Who may order and what is restricted

Restrictions
Confidential until 40 years after death, then public.3
Birth certificates: who holds it
Delaware Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health, Office of Vital Statistics (central office: Jesse Cooper Building, 417 Federal St., Dover; also Newark and Georgetown). Birth records 72+ years old (through 1953) are at the Delaware Public Archives.5
Birth certificates: fee
$25.00 per certified copy (fee kept as a search fee if no record is found); free with a valid Delaware personal credential card (29 Del. C. § 8915); heirloom birth certificate $35.5
Probate: who holds it
Register of Wills of each county (New Castle, Kent, Sussex), an elected county office that acts only as a clerk of the Court of Chancery; fees set by each county's governing body.6
Older records: public vital records
Archives holds birth certificates 72+ years old (through 1953), death certificates 40+ years old (through 1985), marriage certificates 50+ years old (through 1975); certified copies $25.00 each. Delaware vital records before 1913 are incomplete.1

How Delaware handles it

  • Divorce decrees come only from Family Court; Vital Statistics keeps divorce data for statistics only.7

Death certificates in Delaware counties with a full guide

The local office, its official online search and its own fee, for each county with a full guide. Local fees can differ from the statewide figures above.

CountyOfficeSearch onlineFee
Kent CountyOffice of Vital Statistics, Kent County, Delaware Division of Public Health8——
New Castle CountyDelaware Office of Vital Statistics - New Castle County office9——
Sussex CountyDelaware Office of Vital Statistics, Sussex County office10——

For any other county, see the county list on the Delaware guide.

Official warnings

  • Vendor fees for vital records ordered online (DHSS Office of Vital Statistics)4

Official copies vs look-alike sites

A certified copy comes only from the office that holds the record; reports and "research copies" sold by commercial sites are not issued by any Delaware office. How to tell an official record source from a paid look-alike.

Rules in other states: death certificates in every state. Everything else in Delaware: Delaware public records guide.

Sources

Every fact above links to the official page it comes from; all 10 sources were checked on November 4, 2026. Fees and rules change, so check the office's own page before you pay or travel.

  1. Visiting & Researching at the Delaware Public Archives (fees, vital records, records availability)Delaware Public Archives
  2. Application for a Certified Copy of a Delaware Death Certificate (Rev. March 2022)DHSS Office of Vital Statisticsarchived copy
  3. Delaware Code Title 16, Chapter 31, Subchapter I - Vital Statistics General Provisions (incl. § 3110)Delaware General Assembly
  4. Office of Vital StatisticsDelaware Health and Social Services, Division of Public Healtharchived copy
  5. Application for a Certified Copy of a Delaware Birth Certificate (Rev. Mar 2022)DHSS Office of Vital Statisticsarchived copy
  6. Delaware Code Title 12, Chapter 25 - Register of WillsDelaware General Assembly
  7. Delaware Code Title 16, Chapter 31, Subchapter II - Registration Requirements (incl. §§ 3128, 3132)Delaware General Assembly
  8. Vital StatisticsDelaware Division of Public Health
  9. Office of Vital StatisticsDelaware Health and Social Services
  10. Vital StatisticsDelaware Division of Public Health