Santa Barbara County Death Certificates

The Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor office keeps death records for the entire county. You can request certified copies of death certificates for anyone who died in Santa Barbara County going back to the late 1800s. The office handles walk in requests, mail orders, and online ordering through VitalChek. Each certified copy costs $26.00 by state law. The main office is in Santa Barbara, with branch offices in other parts of the county to serve residents.

Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Office

Santa Barbara County combines several functions in one department. The Clerk-Recorder-Assessor handles vital records including death certificates.

The main office is in the city of Santa Barbara. Branch offices serve other parts of the county. You can walk in during business hours to request a death certificate. Staff will search the files and make a certified copy for you. Recent records can often be completed quickly. Older records may take a few days to retrieve and certify.

For more information, visit the county website at www.countyofsb.org/739/Death-Records. The site provides office locations, hours, forms, and contact information. You can call ahead to ask questions or confirm they have the record you need.

Death Certificate Costs

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 by cash, check, or money order. Make checks payable to Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor. Online orders through VitalChek accept credit cards and debit cards, but VitalChek adds service fees on top of the base $26.00 price. Expect to pay around $40 to $50 total when using VitalChek, depending on shipping speed.

The search fee is not refunded if the office cannot locate a record. Make sure you have accurate information before ordering. If the death occurred in a different county, you still pay the fee with no refund.

Order Death Certificates Online

Santa Barbara County uses VitalChek for online ordering. VitalChek is a third party vendor authorized by the state to process vital record requests.

Go to www.vitalchek.com and select California, then Santa Barbara County. Enter the full name of the deceased, the date of death, and the location in the county where the death occurred. The system will ask if you want an authorized copy or an informational copy.

Authorized copies require you to be a close relative and provide a notarized sworn statement. Authorized requesters include the spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling. If you do not qualify, choose an informational copy. Informational copies cost the same but have a stamp indicating they cannot be used to establish identity.

VitalChek processes your order and ships the certificate to your address. You can choose standard shipping or pay extra for overnight delivery. Processing time is typically one to two weeks, plus shipping.

Who Can Request 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 or domestic partner of the deceased, any parent or child, grandparents and grandchildren, siblings, and legal representatives appointed by a court. Funeral directors acting on behalf of an authorized family member can also order death certificates.

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 shows 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 works for genealogy but not for legal use.

Information Needed for Your Order

Have these details ready when you order:

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Date of death or approximate year
• Place of death within Santa Barbara County
• Your name and mailing address
• Your relationship to the deceased

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

How Long It Takes

Walk in service at a county office is the fastest option. Recent death records can often be printed while you wait or within a few hours. 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 postal delivery. Total time from mailing your request to receiving the certificate can be three weeks.

Online orders through VitalChek have similar processing times. The county processes the request in one to two weeks, then VitalChek ships it. Expedited shipping 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 official record.

Older Death Records

Santa Barbara 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-Assessor to confirm availability.

The California State Archives in Sacramento holds some pre-1905 vital records from select counties. Call the State Archives at 916-653-6814 to ask if they have Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County includes several cities. All death records for these cities are maintained by the county Clerk-Recorder-Assessor, not by the cities themselves.

Cities in the county include Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Goleta, Carpinteria, Buellton, Solvang, and Guadalupe. None of these cities have their own vital records offices. Contact the county for death certificates from any location within Santa Barbara County.

Nearby Counties

If the death occurred in a different county, you must contact that county's office. Counties near Santa Barbara include Ventura County, San Luis Obispo County, and Kern 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 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.