Restview

United States record-finding guide

A clear place to begin a difficult search.

Find the correct office, understand access rules, and choose the right record before you pay or send identity documents. Restview explains the process; it does not host personal profiles or copies of obituaries.

Choose a stateHow ordering works
A pale winding path beside calm water beneath an open morning horizon

Start with the custodian

Three routes, three different purposes

Official proof

A certified death certificate comes from the state or local vital records office. Eligibility, identification, fees, and public-access periods differ.

Compare state rules

Historical research

Indexes, archives, newspapers, cemetery registers, and court files can supply leads. Each has its own coverage and evidentiary limits.

Understand record types

Administrative steps

Federal and state agencies publish procedures for benefits, records, taxes, and estate administration. Requirements depend on your role.

Review the checklist

State-by-state

Death record offices and access rules

A death certificate is issued in the jurisdiction where the death occurred, not necessarily where a relative now lives. Select a state to see the official office, first-copy fee, access rule, online-order route, and where older records may be held.

View all 50 states and DC

Know what you found

One event can create several records

Death index

A finding aid that points to a registered death without replacing the underlying certificate.

Read the record guide

Cemetery or burial register

An interment register or plot record maintained by the place of burial.

Read the record guide

A careful research path

Use sources in an order that preserves context

Start with the correct vital records office when you need official proof. If the event predates statewide registration, use the historical-records route. A newspaper search is more effective after you establish a place and date range, so read the guide to historical newspapers before trying spelling variants.

An index is a lead, not the final document. Our guide to death indexes explains the distinction. For court administration, begin with finding the correct probate court. Definitions used by offices and repositories are collected in the plain-language glossary.

What Restview does not provide

Restview does not contain a database of deceased people, a name-search form, individual profiles, reproduced obituary text, or cemetery contributions. Those materials can be incomplete, sensitive, or copyrighted. We provide directions to the record custodian and explain how to evaluate a result. Every procedural page names its source and review date; see how we verify and the consolidated source directory.

Before you order

Confirm the event jurisdiction, decide whether the receiving institution needs a certified copy, and read the official identification and relationship rules. Third-party ordering services may add charges. Begin on the relevant government office page and follow only the ordering route published there. Fees and turnaround can change after our review date, so the issuing office remains controlling.