Search Glendale Death Records

Glendale city government does not handle death records. Los Angeles County maintains all vital records for Glendale and every other city in the county. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk office processes death certificate requests for deaths anywhere in Los Angeles County. Their main office is in Norwalk at 12400 Imperial Highway, with service centers throughout the county. You can request certificates in person at any office during business hours Monday through Friday, order online through the county portal, or submit a mail application. The county has death records from the 1800s and charges $23 per certified copy.

Los Angeles County Issues Glendale Death Certificates

California law assigns vital records to county governments. Cities do not issue death certificates.

Glendale death records come from Los Angeles County. The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk office operates the main facility at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk. Service centers in other parts of the county also process vital records requests. Office hours run Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Walk in service is available at all locations.

Los Angeles County maintains death records dating back to the 1800s when the county was established. All deaths in Glendale and other county cities are in the same record system. The county charges $23 per copy, which is below the state average of $26. This makes Los Angeles County one of the most affordable counties for death certificates in California.

How to Get a Death Certificate

Three methods are available. Visit an office. Order online. Mail a request.

Walk in to the Norwalk main office or a service center with valid government issued photo ID and payment. Staff will search the database and print certificates for recent deaths while you wait. Older records may need a few days to retrieve from storage. Bring $23 per copy in cash, check, money order, or credit card. Walk in service provides the fastest results for most requests.

Online ordering uses the Los Angeles County application portal. Fill out the web form with details about the deceased person and your contact information. Pay by credit card. The certificate gets mailed to your address. Processing takes about two to three weeks. This method saves a trip to the office but takes longer than walking in.

Mail applications require downloading and completing the death record request form from the county website. Send it with a check or money order payable to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Include your return address. Mail to the Norwalk office address shown on the form. Expect four to six weeks for processing and delivery.

Authorized and Informational Copies

California divides death certificates into two types. Eligibility depends on your relationship to the deceased.

Authorized copies require proof of relationship under Health and Safety Code Section 103526. You must be the spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, or grandchild of the deceased. Legal representatives appointed by a court, attorneys handling the estate, and government officials on official business also qualify. To receive an authorized copy, you must sign a notarized sworn statement under penalty of perjury declaring your eligibility. Authorized copies have full legal validity.

Informational copies do not require notarization or relationship proof. Any person can order these. The certificate will have a stamp reading "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY" printed across it. These copies work for family history and personal records but lack legal validity for matters like probate or benefit claims. The price is the same $23 as authorized copies.

When Records Become Available

Death records need approximately two weeks to process after the death occurs. Do not order immediately.

After a death, the funeral home submits paperwork to the county. A physician must certify the cause of death. County staff then enter the information into their system and create the official record. This process takes roughly 14 days. If you request a certificate too early, the county will not find it and you will still pay the search fee.

Call the county office before ordering if you are unsure whether enough time has passed. Staff can check their database to confirm the record is ready. The contact information appears on the county records request page. Have the full name and date of death available when you call.

Old Glendale Death Records

Los Angeles County has historical death records from the 1800s forward. Glendale incorporated in 1906, but county records cover the area from earlier decades.

For deaths before July 1905, only the county has records. The state office in Sacramento does not maintain anything from before that date. Contact Los Angeles County directly for pre-1905 deaths in the Glendale area. These old records may be on microfilm or in paper archives. Staff need extra time to locate and copy them, but the records remain accessible through the standard application process.

Many historical Los Angeles County death records have been digitized and posted on genealogy websites like Ancestry and FamilySearch. These are informational only and are not certified. If you need a certified copy for legal purposes, you must order through the county even if you found the record online.

What You Need to Request

Gather these details before applying:

• Full legal name of deceased
• Date of death or approximate year
• City or location of death in Los Angeles County
• Your relationship to the deceased
• Your mailing address

More information helps staff find the record faster. If you do not know the exact date, provide the month and year or a range of years. The county will search based on what you give them. They keep the $23 fee whether they find the record or not because the fee covers the search effort.

Can You Order from the State

Yes. The California Department of Public Health maintains copies of all death records from July 1905 to the present.

However, the state office is much slower than the county. According to the state processing times page, the average wait is five to seven weeks. Los Angeles County handles mail orders in four to six weeks and walk in requests the same day. The state charges $24 by mail or $26 through VitalChek, while the county charges just $23 with no extra fees for online orders.

For Glendale deaths, using Los Angeles County is faster and cheaper. The state office makes sense only if you do not know which county the death occurred in or if you need certificates from multiple counties across California.

Other Los Angeles County Cities

Los Angeles County includes 88 cities. All use the same county office for death records.

Major cities with pages: Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Clarita

Other cities in the county include Pasadena, Torrance, Pomona, Lancaster, Palmdale, Burbank, Inglewood, Downey, El Monte, and many more. Contact Los Angeles County for death records from any city or unincorporated area in the county.