Find Oakland Death Records

Oakland does not maintain death records. These documents are handled by Alameda County, which oversees all vital records for Oakland and other cities in the county. To request a death certificate for someone who died in Oakland, you must contact the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder's Office. The county has two locations where you can request death records in person. Their main office is in Oakland at 1106 Madison Street, with a second location in Dublin. You can also order online or by mail.

Alameda County Issues Oakland Death Certificates

All death certificates for Oakland come from Alameda County. The city does not keep these records. California law puts vital records under county jurisdiction.

The Alameda County Clerk-Recorder manages death records for the entire county. This includes Oakland and all other cities. The main office sits at 1106 Madison Street in Oakland. Walk in hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. A second service location operates in Dublin at 7600 Dublin Boulevard, Suite 160. Both offices can process requests for death certificates from anywhere in Alameda County.

Phone service is available through two numbers. Call 1-510-272-6362 for local access or 1-888-280-7708 for a toll free line. Staff can tell you if a record is ready and answer questions about ordering. Email inquiries go to CROUpload@acgov.org. Fax requests can be sent to (510) 208-9957.

The county office has kept death records for Oakland since 1871. Records from that year forward are in the county system. Some very old records may take extra time to locate and copy because they exist only in older formats. Most requests for deaths from 1960 to present can be completed same day when you visit in person. Deaths from 1871 to 1959 take up to three business days to process at the counter.

Three Ways to Request Death Records

Walk in service gives you the fastest results. Show up at either the Oakland or Dublin office with a photo ID and payment. The fee is $28 per copy.

For recent deaths from 1960 forward, the county can print your certificate while you wait in most cases. Older deaths from 1871 to 1959 require staff to pull archived records. This takes up to three business days. You can come back to pick up the certificate or ask them to mail it once ready.

The Alameda County online ordering portal operates around the clock. Fill out the application, pay with a credit card, and wait for your certificate to arrive by mail. Processing takes two to three weeks from when the county receives your order. Delivery adds up to seven more days. A single $2 convenience fee applies per online order, regardless of how many copies you request in that order.

Mail requests take the longest but work if you cannot visit an office or use the internet. Download the written application for death certificate from the county website. Complete the form and mail it to 1106 Madison Street, Oakland, CA 94607. Include a check or money order for $28 per copy. Processing takes about two to three weeks once they receive your request, with delivery time on top of that.

Death Certificate Fees and Who Can Order

Alameda County charges $28 for each death certificate. This fee is higher than most California counties.

The $28 search fee is kept even if the county cannot find the record you requested. Make sure you have accurate information before ordering. The name, date, and place of death all help county staff locate the right record. Wrong details may lead to a no record found result.

California separates death certificates into two types. Authorized copies have full legal value. Informational copies carry a stamp that says they cannot be used to establish identity. The cost is the same for both types.

To get an authorized copy, you must qualify under Health and Safety Code Section 103526. Qualifying people include the spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, or grandchild of the deceased. You need to submit a notarized sworn statement proving your relationship. This statement comes with the application form.

Anyone can request an informational copy without proving their relationship. No notarized statement is required. These copies work fine for genealogy research and other non-legal purposes. Banks, insurance companies, and government agencies usually require authorized copies, not informational ones.

Alameda County offers online ordering with a $2 convenience fee per transaction. This fee covers all copies in a single order. If you order three death certificates at once, you pay $28 times three plus $2 total, not $2 per copy.

How Long After Death to Order

Death records become available roughly two weeks after the death occurs. The county needs time to receive and file the certificate. Ordering too soon results in a no record found response.

Call the county office to check if a recent death record is ready. Have the full name and date of death when you call. Staff can search their system and tell you whether to proceed with an order. This saves you from paying the search fee before the record exists in the system.

If you need something right away, ask the funeral home. They sometimes provide temporary proof of death that works for immediate tasks like notifying Social Security or accessing safe deposit boxes. This is not an official death certificate but may be accepted for some urgent needs.

Oakland Historical Death Records

Alameda County holds death records for Oakland going back to 1871. Records before 1893 are not available according to the county website. The exact gap and reason are unclear, but assume records exist from 1893 forward with better consistency.

Very old records take more time to retrieve. Staff must locate archived files that may not be digitized. Allow extra processing time if you request a death certificate from before 1960. The county states that certificates from 1960 to present can be completed same day for walk in requests. Certificates from earlier years take up to three business days.

For deaths before July 1905, the county is your only option. The state office in Sacramento does not have records from before that date. The California State Archives holds some pre-1905 records for research purposes, but they cannot issue certified copies. Only the county can provide certified historical death certificates.

Many Oakland death records from the 1800s and early 1900s appear on genealogy websites like FamilySearch and Ancestry. These are scanned images or transcriptions. They are not certified and cannot be used for legal matters. If you need a certified copy of an old Oakland death record, order through Alameda County.

What Information to Provide When Ordering

County staff need certain facts to find the death record you want. Gather these before you start your request:

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Date of death or approximate year
• City where death occurred (Oakland or other location in Alameda County)
• Your name and relationship to the deceased
• Your mailing address for certificate delivery

More details make the search easier. If you only know the year, provide that. The county will search their files for that time period. Exact dates help but are not always required. Be as complete as you can with the information you have.

Some people have common names. If you know the deceased person's parents' names or their spouse's name, include that on the application. It helps county staff confirm they have the right record when multiple people share the same name and similar death dates.

Ordering from California State Office

The California Department of Public Health also issues death certificates for deaths anywhere in the state from July 1905 forward. You can order from them instead of the county.

The state office is much slower than Alameda County. Their average processing time is five to seven weeks according to the state vital records processing page. Alameda County processes orders in two to three weeks by mail or same day for walk in requests from 1960 onward.

State fees are $24 by mail or $26 through VitalChek online ordering. VitalChek adds service fees on top of the base price. Alameda County charges $28 direct with only a $2 online convenience fee. The county is faster even though slightly more expensive for mail orders. For walk in service, the county is the clear choice.

Order from the state office if you cannot reach an Alameda County location and prefer not to use the county online system. The state accepts mail requests and processes them in Sacramento. Send your completed application to California Department of Public Health, Vital Records, MS 5103, P.O. Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410.

Death Records for Other Alameda County Cities

All cities in Alameda County use the same clerk-recorder office for death records. Oakland is the county seat and the main office location.

Other major cities with pages: Fremont, Hayward, Berkeley

Additional cities include Alameda, Albany, Dublin, Emeryville, Livermore, Newark, Pleasanton, San Leandro, and Union City. Contact Alameda County for death certificates from any of these places.

Death Records Outside Alameda County

If the death occurred in a different county, contact that county's clerk-recorder office. Each county maintains its own records.

Nearby cities in other counties: San Francisco (San Francisco County), San Jose (Santa Clara County), Stockton (San Joaquin County)