Search Santa Clara County Death Records

Death certificates for Santa Clara County are maintained by the County Clerk-Recorder in San Jose. Their files cover all deaths in the county including San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Milpitas, and other cities. You can order certified copies online through VitalChek, by mail, or in person at the San Jose office. Each copy costs $26.00 under current state law. The office keeps records from the late 1800s forward.

Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder

The Clerk-Recorder office in San Jose handles all vital records for Santa Clara County. The office is in downtown San Jose near other county buildings.

You can visit in person during business hours. Staff will search for the death record and make a certified copy. Recent records can often be completed the same day. Older records may take a few days to retrieve from storage. Call ahead if you want to confirm they have the record before you make the trip.

The county website provides forms and contact information. Visit clerkrecorder.santaclaracounty.gov/marriage-birth-and-death/order-death-certificate for details about ordering death certificates. You can also call or email with questions.

Fee for Death Certificates

Each death certificate costs $26.00. This is the base fee set by California state law effective January 1, 2026.

If you order online through VitalChek, the certificate still costs $26.00, but VitalChek adds service fees and shipping charges on top of that. Expect to pay around $40 to $50 total depending on shipping speed. In person and mail orders avoid the VitalChek fees but may take longer to process.

The county keeps the search fee even if they cannot find a record. Make sure you have accurate information before you order. If the death happened in a different county, you will not get a refund.

Order Death Certificates Online

Santa Clara 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 Clara County. Enter the full name of the person who died, 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. You must upload a notarized sworn statement proving your relationship. Authorized requesters include the spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the deceased. If you do not qualify, choose an informational copy instead. Informational copies cost the same but have a stamp that says they cannot be used to establish identity.

VitalChek accepts credit cards and debit cards. After you complete the order, they process it and mail the certificate to your address. You can choose standard shipping or pay extra for overnight delivery. Processing typically takes one to two weeks plus shipping time.

Who Can Get an Authorized Copy

California law controls who can request an authorized death certificate. The statute is Health and Safety Code Section 103526.

The law allows spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings to get authorized copies. Legal representatives appointed by a court can also request them. Funeral directors acting on behalf of an authorized family member can order death certificates without the family 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 download the form VS 112 from the California Department of Public Health website.

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. The informational copy shows all the same data but has a legend printed on it stating it is not valid to establish identity. These copies work for genealogy or personal records but not for legal purposes.

Information Required to Order

Gather these details before you place your order:

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Date of death or approximate year
• City or location in Santa Clara County where death occurred
• Your name and current address
• Your relationship to the deceased
• Reason you need the certificate

The more exact your information, the faster the search. If you know only the year, the office can search a range of dates, but this takes more time. The search fee is not refunded if they cannot find a match.

Processing and Wait Times

Walk in service at the San Jose office is the fastest option. Recent death records can often be printed while you wait or within a few hours. Older records may take a few 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 to you. Expedited shipping speeds up delivery after the certificate is ready, but the county still needs time to pull and certify the record.

Death records become available about two weeks after the date of death. Do not order right away. Wait at least two weeks for the county to file the official record.

Older Death Records

Santa Clara County has death records going back to the late 1800s. Very old records may be incomplete or stored differently than modern certificates. If you need a record from before 1905, contact the Clerk-Recorder 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 Clara County death records from your time period.

Records more than 75 years old are open for public research without restriction. You do not need to prove a relationship to access these older records.

Cities in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County includes many cities in the South Bay and Silicon Valley area. All death records for these cities are kept by the county Clerk-Recorder in San Jose.

Major cities include San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and others such as Mountain View, Palo Alto, Milpitas, Cupertino, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga, and Los Altos. None of these cities maintain their own vital records offices. Contact the county for death certificates from any location in Santa Clara County.

Nearby Counties

If the death occurred outside Santa Clara County, you need to contact the county where it happened. Nearby counties include Alameda County, San Mateo County, Santa Cruz County, Stanislaus County, and Merced 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. The California Department of Public Health Vital Records has death records from all counties since July 1905. State processing takes longer, usually five to seven weeks, but the fee is slightly lower at $24.00 per copy.