Order Death Certificates

Guidelines to Obtaining an Authorized Certified Copy of a Death Certificate

Burial, Removal and Transit Permits

Certificate of Still Birth

Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS)

• LAC EDRS Policy Sheet
• LAC EDRS Fax communication sheet
• Supplementary EDRS fax sheet for multiple requests
• Local Filing Locations
• ME/Coroner workflow
• CA-EDRS website

EDRS Filing Hours, Monday-Friday

• Los Angeles: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
• Long Beach: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
• Pasadena: 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM (Health Dept closed every other Friday)

LA County Local Filing Locations (click here)

Emergency/Weekend Filing

• Los Angeles: Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM at Headquarters (313 N. Figueroa St).  Please fax all emergency requests to (213) 482-5680.
• Long Beach: Saturday-Sunday, certain holidays, 8-4 PM. Please call (562) 435-6711.
• Pasadena: Staff will be available on call, every other Friday, weekends and holiday.

Processing Time

Please allow up to 2 business hours for Medical Information Review (MI Review) and Local Registration (SUBM LR) after submission for 100% EDRS documents.

Paper DCs will be processed at the downtown location on a first come, first serve basis (313 N. Figueroa St., Lobby-1).

Funeral Home Responsibilities:

• Social Security Verification (SSV)
  EDRS requires that SSV be attempted at least ONCE before submitting for registration whether SSN is known or unknown.
• Medical Review
  VS11e, 101-117 must be submitted for medical review prior to physician attestation or coroner attestation. If a document has not been submitted for MI Review, it will not be registered.
• Disposition permit
  Funeral home is responsible for completing an EDRS Disposition Permit (DP) and Death Certificate (DC) for registration. Once the DC is registered and the DP is issued, the Funeral Home must print all four (4) copies of the DP. The funeral director must then submit a signed Copy #4 with payment to the appropriate jurisdiction’s Vital Records Office. This payment must be placed in the mail within 24 hrs of the issuance, or received within 72 hrs (mail or walk-in).

EDRS Record Correction/Notification

If you are requesting record correction for any of the following reasons, you must fax a completed EDRS Fax Communication sheet to the appropriate jurisdiction:

• Abandon EDRS record
• Unlock PI, MI, or Both on EDRS record
• Multiple disposition EDRS filing
• EDRS file/Permit with drop to paper certificate
• Ship out/International Disposition
• Fax numbers:
  • Los Angeles: 323-722-9851
  • Long Beach: 562-570-4374
  • Pasadena: 626-744-6095

Amendments

If a record has been registered by the Local Registrar (EDRS status = SUBM SR), an amendment must be filed to correct the record.

Re-file Permit

If a DC has been registered and a re-file is needed to change the disposition, the funeral home can create a re-file Permit/Amendments in EDRS. Please notify the Vital Records Office via the EDRS Fax Communication sheet and fax the sheet to (323) 722-9851.

ME/Coroner Protocol

Please refer to LAC ME/Coroner Workflow.

Certified Copies

Certified copies will be requested in the same manner as they were prior to EDRS. An application for a certified copy of a Death Certificate must be submitted with appropriate fees to the Health Department. Payment for the Disposition Permit must be made before certified copies are issued.

Time Interval Abbreviations

Second(s) – SEC or SECS
Minutes(s) – MIN or MINS
Hour(s) – HR or HRS
Day(s) – DAY or DAYS
Weeks – WK or WKS
Year(s) – YR or YRS
Month(s) – MO or MOS
Immediate - IMMED