San Luis Obispo County Death Records

You can get death certificates for San Luis Obispo County from the County Clerk-Recorder office. They keep records for all deaths in the county going back many decades. The office offers three different online ordering systems for your convenience, plus traditional mail and walk in service. Each certified copy costs $26.00. The county seat is in the city of San Luis Obispo where the main office is located. Staff can help you find death records for anyone who died in this county.

San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder

The Clerk-Recorder office maintains all death records for San Luis Obispo County. The office is in the County Government Center in San Luis Obispo.

Walk in service is available during regular business hours. You can request a death certificate in person and staff will search their files. Recent records can often be printed the same day. Older records may take a few days to locate and certify. The office prefers that you call ahead to confirm they have the record you need.

For detailed information about ordering death certificates, visit the county website at www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/clerk-recorder/all-services/vital-records-births-deaths-marriages/death-certificates. The site provides contact numbers, office hours, and forms you can download.

Costs and Payment Methods

Each death certificate costs $26.00. This fee is set by state law and applies to all California counties.

At the office, you can pay with cash, check, or money order. Make checks payable to San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder. Online orders accept credit cards and debit cards, but each online system adds its own service fees on top of the base $26.00 price. These fees vary by provider.

The search fee is not refunded if the office cannot locate a record. If you provide incorrect information or the death occurred in a different county, you still pay the fee. Double check your facts before ordering.

Online Ordering Options

San Luis Obispo County offers three online systems for ordering death certificates. You can choose whichever one you prefer.

VitalChek is the most widely used third party vendor in California. Go to www.vitalchek.com and select California, then San Luis Obispo County. The system walks you through entering the deceased person's name, date of death, and your relationship to them. VitalChek charges service fees of around $10 to $15 plus shipping costs.

Permitium is another online option. Some counties use Permitium for vital records ordering. The interface is similar to VitalChek. You enter the same information and pay with a credit card. Service fees apply here as well.

Tyler Technologies provides a self service portal for some county services. This is a third option for online ordering in San Luis Obispo County. Each system connects to the same county records, so the choice is up to you.

All three systems require you to specify whether you want an authorized copy or an informational copy. Authorized copies require a notarized sworn statement proving your relationship to the deceased. Informational copies do not require this but have a stamp indicating they cannot be used to establish identity.

Who Can Order an Authorized Copy

California law restricts who can get an authorized death certificate. The law is found in Health and Safety Code Section 103526.

Authorized requesters include the spouse, domestic partner, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings of the deceased. Legal representatives appointed by a court can also request authorized copies. Funeral directors who are acting on behalf of an authorized family member can order death certificates without the family member being present.

To get an authorized copy, you must sign a sworn statement under penalty of perjury and have it notarized. The statement declares that you are legally entitled to receive the certificate. You can use the state form VS 112 available from the California Department of Public Health.

If you do not qualify as an authorized requester, you can still get an informational copy. Anyone can order an informational copy without proving their relationship or getting a notarized statement. The informational copy contains the same data as an authorized copy but has a legend stamped on it that reads "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY." This type of copy works for genealogy research but not for legal matters.

Information You Need to Provide

Before you order, gather these facts:

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Date of death or approximate year
• Place of death in San Luis Obispo County
• Your full name and mailing address
• Your relationship to the deceased
• Reason you need the certificate

The more accurate your information, the easier it is for staff to locate the record. If you do not know the exact date of death, provide a range of years. The office will search within that time frame, but this may take longer.

Processing and Delivery Times

Walk in requests at the Clerk-Recorder office can often be completed the same day if the record is recent and readily available. Older records may take several business days to retrieve and certify.

Mail requests typically take one to two weeks for processing after the office receives your application. Add a few more days for delivery by postal mail. Total time from when you send your request to when you receive the certificate can be three weeks.

Online orders go into the same queue as mail orders. Expect one to two weeks for the county to process the request. You can choose expedited shipping through the online vendor, which speeds up delivery after processing is complete, but the county still needs time to pull the record and create the certified copy.

Death records usually become available about two weeks after the date of death. Do not try to order a certificate immediately after someone dies. Wait at least two weeks for the county to file and index the record.

Older Death Records

San Luis Obispo County has death records going back to the late 1800s. Very old records may be incomplete or stored in a different format than modern certificates. If you need a record from before 1905, contact the Clerk-Recorder office to confirm availability.

The California State Archives in Sacramento holds some pre-1905 vital records from select counties. You can contact the State Archives at 916-653-6814 to ask if they have San Luis Obispo County death records from the time period you need.

Records older than 75 years are open for public research without restriction. Genealogists and family historians can access these without needing to prove a relationship.

Cities in San Luis Obispo County

San Luis Obispo County includes several cities. All death records for these cities are maintained by the county Clerk-Recorder, not by the cities themselves.

The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Other cities include Paso Robles, Atascadero, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, and San Luis Obispo. None of these cities have their own vital records offices. Contact the county for death certificates from any location within San Luis Obispo County.

Nearby Counties

If the death occurred in a different county, you must contact that county's Clerk-Recorder or vital records office. Counties near San Luis Obispo include Monterey County, Kings County, Kern County, and Santa Barbara County.

Each county maintains its own vital records. California law requires you to order from the county where the death occurred. If you are not sure which county, you can order from the state office. The California Department of Public Health Vital Records division has death records from all counties since July 1905. The state office charges $24.00 per copy but processing takes longer, usually five to seven weeks.