A certified copy of a San Mateo 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.

Important things to know about San Mateo County death certificates

Prior to placing an order for a death certificate for apostille purposes, please note:

• Certified copy: 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 an Official Certified Copy of the death certificate.
• Eligibility: You are only allowed to pick up a certified copy of a death certificate for your child, legal ward, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner, as well as any clients who have extended power of attorney to you.
• Recent death: Death records may take four weeks or more to be submitted by the County Coroner. For a recent passing, call the County Clerk-Recorder at +1 (650) 599-1713 or Vital Statistics at +1 (650) 573-2395 to confirm that the death certificate is in the computer system.

Fastest: In person

The fastest way to obtain a certified copy of a San Mateo County death certificate is to pick it up in person by booking an appointment in advance at the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office in Redwood City or simply walking in to the Vital Records Office in San Mateo.

Important note: If the person died prior to 1966, the record needs to be retrieved from an offsite facility. Call the San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder at +1 (650) 599-1713 to place your request at least 24 hours prior to the day you plan to visit.

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 Clerk-Recorder’s Office to retrieve the certified copy of the death certificate.

Medium: Order online

You can order a certified copy of the San Mateo County death certificate online 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 six 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 Mateo County

You can order a certified copy of a death certificate by mail from the San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder. 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.

Please be sure to complete all fields in the application when applying by mail. Also, be careful to order an Official Certified Copy, not an Informational Certified Copy.

You can have the San Mateo County death certificate shipped directly to us by adding our information in the “Mailing Address” field on the application.

C/O 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. 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.

Please be sure to complete all fields in the application when applying by mail. Also, be careful to order an AUTHORIZED COPY, not an INFORMATIONAL COPY.

You can have the CDPH death certificate shipped directly to us by adding our information in the “Mailing Address” fields 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 Mateo County death certificates. If you need a death certificate from another county that is not San Mateo, please visit the website of 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.