Certified copies of the death certificate are legal documents issued through city and town Registrar's offices located throughout the State and charged for by the State of Ohio.

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Because they are legal documents, it is extremely important that you provide us with the correct information when we prepare the original certificate. Please note that photocopies without the raised seal from the issuing Registrar's office are not accepted as legal documents.

After the original death certificate has been signed by the attending physician or medical examiner and completed by the funeral home, it is filed with the city or town Registrar's office. Currently, certified death certificates can only be issued by the Registrar's office in the city or town where the death occurred. The fee for certified copies of death certificates varies from county to county.

During the funeral arrangement conference, we will ask you how many certified copies of the death certificate you will need. As part of our service, we will obtain and pay for these certified copies on your behalf. Although we try to obtain certified copies prior to the completion of the funeral service, this is not always possible, especially if the death occurs out-of-town or the cause of death is pending, waiting post-mortem examination results. If the family needs additional certified copies, they can be obtained from the issuing Registrar's office directly. The funeral home does not maintain a copy of the death certificate.

In order to assist you in ascertaining the number of certified copies needed, we have provided a worksheet listing some areas requiring this document: