A certified copy of a San Francisco County death certificate can be obtained in several ways, as detailed below. If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or call +1 (415) 655-9455.

Please note that informational death certificates that bear a disclaimer—such as “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY”—are not eligible for California Secretary of State apostille certification. You must obtain a certified copy of the death certificate.

You are only allowed to pick up a certified copy of a death certificate for your child, spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, state-registered domestic partner, or a relative to whom you are the surviving next of kin. Additional roles that are allowed to obtain a certified copy of a death certificate include an agent or employee of a funeral home, anyone with a court order, anyone who has power of attorney (with a certified copy of the POA), the executor of the estate (with documents to prove it), an authorized attorney (with supporting documents), an adoption agency (with an order of relinquishment), and an employee of a different government agency (with ID).

Fastest: Obtain the certified copy of the death certificate in person

NOTE: Certified copies of death certificates for deaths that occurred more than three years ago are processed by the San Francisco County Clerk. Certified copies of death certificates for deaths that occurred within the last three years are processed by the Vital Records Office. However, as of October 2025, all in-person requests are being handled at the County Clerk’s Office at City Hall (1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place, Room 160).

The fastest way to obtain a certified copy of a San Francisco death certificate is to pick it up in person. Bring a valid photo ID and a filled-in version of the Application for Certified Copy of Death Record to the County’ Clerk’s office.

If the death occurred more than three years ago, use the County Clerk version of the application. If the death occurred within the past three years, use the Vital Records version of the application. The form for both agencies is identical except the payee name and the delivery address. Either way, bring it in person to the County Clerk’s office, not the Vital Records office on Grove Street.

In case you are unable to pick up the certificate in person, we can obtain the certified copy for you. You will need appear before a notary either in person or through remote online notarization to sign a limited power of attorney that gives us authority to retrieve the death certificate. We can help to arrange an electronic notarization—please contact us to discuss.

Once we receive the notarized power of attorney (via mail for in-person notarization or via certified PDF for an electronic notarization), our authorized agent will travel to the relevant county office to retrieve the certified copy of the death certificate.

Medium: Order online

You can now place an online order for a certified copy of the San Francisco County death certificate directly from the County Clerk for in-person pickup only. The current turnaround time is 4 to 6 weeks. Since you have to go to City Hall to pick up your document either way, we recommend just using the in-person method above. We simply wanted to present this as an option you may consider.

You can also place an online order for a certified copy of the San Francisco County death certificate through a California-approved third-party vendor such as VitalChek, State Vital Records, Vital Records Online, or GoCertificates. You can choose to have it delivered to yourself and then mail it to us, or you can send it directly to us.

Please note: Some third-party processors are quoting up to nine weeks or more to deliver your certified copy. If you cannot wait that long, choose the in-person option instead.

Slowest: Order through the mail

Option 1: Order the death certificate from San Francisco County

You can order a certified copy of a death certificate by mail from the San Francisco County Clerk (if the death occurred more than three years ago) or the San Francisco Office of Vital Records (if the death occurred within the last three years). The form for both agencies is identical except the payee name and the delivery address.

In this case, you will need to sign the form before a local notary or an online notary and then mail the form and a check or money order to the issuing agency.

Either you can choose to have it delivered to yourself and then mail it to us, or you can have it sent directly to us.

Please be sure to complete all fields in the application when applying by mail. You can have your San Francisco County death certificate shipped directly to us by adding our information in the third-party recipient fields on the application.

SF Notary + Apostille
2511 Carlsbad Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95821

Option 2: Order the death certificate from the State of California

You can also order a certified copy of a death certificate by mail from the California Department of Public Health – Vital Records. Again, you will need to sign the form before a local notary or an online notary and then mail the form and a check or money order to the issuing agency.

Either you can choose to have it delivered to yourself and then mail it to us, or you can have it sent directly to us.

Please be sure to complete all fields in the application when applying by mail. You can have your San Francisco County death certificate shipped directly to us by adding our information in the address field on the application.

C/O SF Notary + Apostille, 2511 Carlsbad Ave.
95821 Sacramento CA USA

Please note: Government agencies can take several weeks to deliver your certified copy. If time is a concern, choose the in-person option instead.

Contact us before you ship the certified copy

Whichever option you select for ordering a certified copy of a death certificate, please email [email protected] with the following information before sending the certificate to us:

• Your name, telephone number, and current physical location
• The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the person to whom we will ship the apostilled death certificate
• The destination country (e.g. France)
• The physical location of the death certificate or ordering status if you ordered one

The instructions on this page only apply to San Francisco County death certificates. If you need a death certificate from another county that is not San Francisco, please visit the website that county for instructions. Each county uses different forms and employs different processes.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or call +1 (415) 655-9455.

Disclaimer: Information on this website is for informational purposes only. These instructions are based on our knowledge and experience and are meant to be helpful; however, they might contain errors. Please let us know if you encounter mistakes so that we can promptly correct them. SF Notary + Apostille is not a law firm, and its agents are not attorneys. Please contact a licensed attorney or your local bar association for counsel on legal matters.