Texas Death Certificates

Ordering Texas Death Certificates Online

Order Death Certificates Here

General Information on Ordering Texas Death Certificates

The Texas Department of State Health Services, Bureau of Vital Statistics has records from 1903 and later. For earlier records, refer to the Texas State Archives.

Copies of birth and death certificates are confidential under Texas Law for 75 years for birth certificates and 25 years for death certificates from the date of the event. If the death was less than 25 years ago or the birth was less than 75 years ago, the certified copies can only be obtained by qualified applicants. If you are a qualified applicant, you may request a certified copy of a birth or death in Texas. If you do not meet the definition of a qualified applicant, you may request a Verification of Birth or Death Facts .

A verification of a birth or death record consists of a letter, which includes the person's name, date of event, county in which the event occurred, and state file number. Texas Vital Statistics has 4 ways for you to verify a birth or death in the State of Texas: by mail, by express mail, by fax, and in-person at Texas Vital Statistics in Austin. Verifications are available from 1903 to the present. However, the fee for a verification is non-refundable or non-transferable if a record is not found.

Information for Genealogists

For assistance with your family history research, please do not contact the State of Texas. Instead please refer to the following websites for help:

• Texas Birth, Marriage and Death Records - online databases of primary records.

• Texas Adoption Registry - for help with locating adoptees and birth families from Texas.

• Texas Obituaries - find obituaries from Texas newspapers.

• Social Security Death Index - National database of deaths dating back to the 1940's.