INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
AVAILABILITY: Death registration was not required by state law until 1917; however, it was many years before we had consistent
registration. While there are some records on file dating back to 1877, not all events were registered.
ELIGIBILITY:
WITHOUT CAUSE OF DEATH: Any person of legal age (18) may be issued a death certification without the cause of death.
CAUSE OF DEATH INFORMATION: Cause of Death for any record over 50 years old may be issued to any applicant.
Death records less than 50 years old with the cause of death information included may only be issued to the following
individuals:
Decedent’s spouse or parent;
Decedent’s child, grandchild or sibling, if of legal age;
Any person who provides a will, insurance policy or other document that demonstrates his or her interest in the
estate of the decedent, OR
Any person who provides documentation that he or she is acting on behalf of any of the above named persons.
Requests for a death certification that includes the cause of death information must state the qualifying eligibility, or a
notarized Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information (DH 1959), which is available upon request. If after reading the
above information you are still uncertain regarding your eligibility for cause of death information, call our office (904) 359-6900
extension 9000 for assistance.
A funeral director or attorney representing an eligible person as defined above must include their professional license number,
and the name and relationship of the person they are representing, if requesting cause of death. If not representing someone
identified above as eligible to receive cause of death information, then a completed Affidavit to Release Cause of Death
Information (DH 1959) must accompany this request. SPECIAL NOTE: Florida clerks of court will not accept a death record
with cause of death information included when filing probate.
INFORMATION NEEDED: A search cannot be made without the decedent’s name and year of death. If any of the other items
requested on the front of this form are unavailable, other identifying information (such as parents’ names, birthplace, etc) may
be helpful if multiple records are found for common names.
APPLICANT’S SIGNATURE: Applicant’s signature is required, as well as his/her name, valid residence address and telephone
number.
OPTIONS FOR EXPEDITED SERVICES (Only Available for Mailed Applications):
Expedited Processing Fee: If you want to have your application expedited, please submit your application and marked the outside
of the envelope EXPEDITE with the $10.00 expedited processing fee enclosed. If the record and application are complete and in order,
the application will be processed and the certificate(s) will be mailed via U.S. Mail by the next business day.
Overnight Delivery Fee: If you would like to have your certificate(s) returned to you via FedEx (where available, some locations
require a two-day delivery which is determined by FedEx based on delivery address), please include an additional $10.00 Overnight
Delivery Fee with your application and $10.00 expedited processing fee, for a total of $20.00. If the record and application are
complete and in order, the application will be processed and the certificate(s) sent via FedEx the same business day (where available,
some locations require a two-day delivery which is determined by FedEx based on delivery address) the request was received. Adult
Signature is required at time of delivery.
Regular Mail Request: general processing time is 7 to 10 business days for non-expedited mail request.
PAYMENT OPTIONS FOR SERVICES:
Payments made with mailed in request: If you are sending your
request to this office, payments accepted are money order or
check (starter checks are not acceptable). Please make your payment
out to the following, Florida Department of Health – Volusia County.
Please do not send cash through the mail.
Payments made in person: If you are coming into the Vital Statistics
Office to request your certificate, payments accepted are cash, credit
cards (all major credit cards are accepted), money order and checks (starter checks are not acceptable).
Please make your payment out to the following, Florida Department of Health – Volusia County.
Mailing address: Florida Department of Health – Volusia County
Office of Vital Statistics - Bin #102
P.O. Box 9190
Daytona Beach, FL 32120
Telephone# : 386-274-0614
Website: www.volusiahealth.com
DH 1961 6/13 64V-1.0131, Florida Administrative Code (Obsoletes previous editions