Santa Cruz County Death Records Lookup

The Santa Cruz County Recorder maintains death certificates for all deaths in the county. You can get certified copies through the Tyler Technologies online portal, VitalChek, or by visiting the office in Santa Cruz. Each copy costs $26.00 under state law. The office keeps records from the 1800s to present for deaths in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola, Scotts Valley, and other parts of the county.

Santa Cruz County Recorder Office

The County Recorder office handles all vital records for Santa Cruz County. The main office is in Santa Cruz, the county seat.

Walk in service is available during regular business hours. You can request a death certificate and staff will search the files. Recent records can often be printed 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 you need.

For more information, visit the county website at recorder.santacruzcountyca.gov/Services/VitalRecords/DeathCertificates.aspx. The site provides office hours, contact information, and forms you can download.

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 Cruz County Recorder. Online orders accept credit cards and debit cards, but the online vendors add service fees on top of the base $26.00 price. Expect to pay around $40 to $50 total when using VitalChek or the Tyler portal, 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.

Online Ordering Options

Santa Cruz County offers two online systems for ordering death certificates.

The Tyler Technologies self service portal is available at santacruzcountyca-web.tylerhost.net/web/. This is the county's own system for vital records ordering. You can search for a death record and order a certified copy online. The portal accepts credit cards.

VitalChek is the second option. Go to www.vitalchek.com and select California, then Santa Cruz County. VitalChek is a third party vendor authorized by the state. The system walks you through entering the deceased person's name, date of death, and your relationship to them.

Both 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. The price is the same for both types.

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 Cruz 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 the Santa Cruz 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 Tyler or VitalChek have similar processing times. The county processes the request in one to two weeks, then the vendor 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 Cruz County has death records going back to the 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 Recorder office 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 Cruz 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 Cruz County

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

Cities in the county include Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola, and Scotts Valley. None of these cities have their own vital records offices. Contact the county for death certificates from any location within Santa Cruz County.

Nearby Counties

If the death occurred in a different county, you must contact that county's office. Counties near Santa Cruz include Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, San Benito County, and Monterey 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.