Our Skilled NYC Estate Planning Attorneys Explain How to Obtain a Death Certificate and Why You Need One
A death certificate is an official document recording the date and location of a deceased person’s passing. Most death certificates are issued by state and local government agencies, and they can be used to initiate probate and begin claiming insurance proceeds. 
The Landskind & Ricaforte Law Group, P.C. has spent years helping families throughout Brooklyn and the Five Boroughs make sense of probate. Whether you’re executing an estate or aren’t sure what to expect once your case goes to court, our experienced team of probate and estate administration attorneys can help.
When You Need a NYC Death Certificate
Death certificates serve many different purposes. Following the death of a loved one, they are most often used to initiate the formalities associated with probate and the transfer of different types of estate assets. You may need a death certificate to do the following:
- Initiate a probate claim
- Obtain approval to act as an estate executor or successor trustee
- Ask a bank or other financial institution to execute a transfer-on-death beneficiary designation
- Manage the deceased person’s estate assets and investments
- Apply for life insurance proceeds
If the deceased person’s cremation or burial was administered by a funeral home or similar service, you’ll likely be provided several copies of the decedent’s death certificates without charge. Obtaining additional copies is not usually difficult, but it’s sometimes time-consuming.
Obtaining a Death Certificate in New York
In most parts of the state, requests for death certificates are handled by the New York State Department of Health’s Vital Records Center. However, the New York City Health Department issues death certificates for all deaths registered in:
- Manhattan (New York County)
- Brooklyn (Kings County)
- Queens (Queens County)
- The Bronx (Bronx County)
- State Island (Richmond County)
The New York City Health Department only issues death certificates for deaths reported in the Five Boroughs. If your loved one passed away Upstate, in Nassau County, or in Suffolk County, you’ll need to submit your request through the state’s Vital Records Center.
The Rules on Requesting Copies of a Death Certificate
Only certain people are entitled to request a copy of a death certificate. The NYC Health Department issues several distinct types of death certificates, each of which has its own ordering criteria:
- Certificate request without the cause of death. A New York City death certificate that does not list the cause of death can be obtained by any “entitled party.” This typically includes the decedent’s spouse or partner, their parents, children, nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, and great-grandchildren.
- Certificate request with the cause of death. Only close living relatives can obtain a death certificate that shows the decedent’s cause of death. These include the deceased person’s surviving spouse, partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and grandchild. other people, such as the estate executor, may also obtain a certificate of death.
If you’ve hired a probate lawyer, your attorney can also obtain death certificates on your behalf.
Where to Get Death Certificate Copies in New York City
If you live in New York City and are entitled to apply for a copy of a death certificate, you may obtain documentation through any of the following methods:
- Using a third-party service like VitalChek.
- Scheduling an in-person appointment at the Department of Health’s location on 125 Worth Street in Lower Manhattan.
- Sending an application packet in the mail.
The Process for Obtaining Copies of a Death Certificate in NYC
All applications, no matter how they are filed, must be accompanied by a completed copy of Form VR-66. This one-page form requires information that includes the following:
- The deceased person’s name and death date
- The decedent’s location of death, including the place of death and borough of death
- The decedent’s age and last known address
- Your relationship to the deceased person
You can only obtain a death certificate if you verify your relationship to the deceased person. To do this, you must provide a valid form of identification. New York City accepts the following types of IDs:
- Driver’s license
- NYC benefits card (with photograph only)
- Unexpired passport
- IDNYC Municipal Card
- Permanent resident card (Green Card)
- University or college ID, along with a copy of your most recent transcript
- Inmate ID with release papers
- Job ID with current paystub
- NYC MTA “Access-a-Ride” or reduced fare care
- Military ID card
Estate executors and other unrelated parties may be asked to present a copy of the documents they are attempting to execute, such as an insurance policy or a will.
Before your application is processed, you will need to pay a $15-per-copy fee. It can take between two and four weeks for copies of the death certificate(s) to be returned to your address.