Virginia Death Certificates

Ordering Virginia Death Certificates Online

Order Death Certificates Here

General Information on Ordering Virginia Death Certificates

Virginia registration of births, deaths, and marriages began on a county level in 1853 and continued until 1896. Many counties abandoned registration during the Civil War, or recorded only a small percentage of events. Except in some independent cities, records were not kept between 1896 and 14 June 1912, when statewide registration of vital statistics began. Early records, 1853-96, have been microfilmed and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL. Marriage bonds and licensing were in place from the 1600s in Virginia, though are sporadic and fragmented. They are usually found among the county levels of records, and are often published.

For birth and death records from 1913-present and marriages from 1936-present, certificates can be obtained from the: Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records. For records prior to 1913, refer to the Virginia State Archives.

Information for Genealogists

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

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

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

• Virginia Obituaries - find obituaries from Virginia newspapers.

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