How to Get a Death Certificate in Illinois
From Everendium · Last reviewed October 17, 2026
This guide covers Illinois. For the general overview, see Getting Death Certificates: How Many You'll Need and Why.
Quick answer
In Illinois, certified death certificates are issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health's Division of Vital Records in Springfield and the county clerks. A full certified copy costs $19, and each additional copy in the same order costs $4. Online orders through VitalChek add a $15 handling fee, and optional UPS delivery adds $22 within the U.S. County clerks set their own fees, which vary.
Getting a death certificate is one of the first practical steps after a death in Illinois, and the details of who issues it and what it costs are specific to Illinois.
Who issues death certificates in Illinois?
Certified copies come from the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Division of Vital Records in Springfield and the county clerks. In practice, the funeral home usually files the certificate and orders an initial batch of certified copies for you.
How much does a certified copy cost in Illinois?
A full certified copy costs $19, and each additional copy in the same order costs $4. Online orders through VitalChek add a $15 handling fee, and optional UPS delivery adds $22 within the U.S. County clerks set their own fees, which vary.
Who can order a copy in Illinois?
The state application asks for photo identification and your relationship to the person who died. Check the department’s page for the current eligibility rules.
How do I order more copies in Illinois?
- In person: at the Division of Vital Records, 925 E. Ridgely Avenue, Springfield, which issues birth and death records from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.
- By mail: to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, Springfield, IL 62702-2737, with a check or money order payable to IDPH. The department lists 5 to 7 business days of processing for a certified copy.
- Online: through VitalChek.
- At the county clerk: the department says you may contact the county clerk where the death occurred. Questions: DPH.VITALS@illinois.gov.
What else should I know before I order?
The department does not send updates while a mailed request is being processed, so keep a copy of what you sent.
What should I do next?
Confirm with the funeral home how many copies it is ordering for you, then decide how many more you need; see how many death certificates you need in Illinois and our general guide to death certificates.
Add this to your Final Day Plan: your Social Security number, birthplace, and parents’ full names - the death certificate application asks for these, and they’re often surprisingly hard for a family to track down under pressure.
Fees and rules change - confirm current details with the Illinois Department of Public Health or your county clerk before you send payment.
Sources
About this review
Everendium Editorial Team · last reviewed October 17, 2026.
Fees, eligibility rules, and ordering options were checked on October 17, 2026 against the state's own published fee information, application forms, and county government pages listed in the sources. Death certificate fees change often, and some official pages were read only as search extracts, so the current fee should be confirmed on the agency's page before paying. Recommended for periodic re-verification. This is general information, not legal advice
Related reading
Make this easier for your family.
Record what you've just read in your Final Day Plan, then download it as a PDF. Nothing is stored online.