Kentucky Vital Statistics Death Certificate: How to Order and How Many to Get

The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics (OVS) in Frankfort issues every certified death certificate in the Commonwealth. No county courthouse, no hospital, and no funeral home can issue a legally certified copy that institutions will accept. Everything runs through Frankfort — and the family will need more copies than they think.

The Official Application: Form VS-31

To request a certified death certificate from the Kentucky OVS, the family submits Form VS-31 (Application for Certified Copy of Death Certificate). The form requests the decedent's name, date of death, county of death, and information about the applicant's relationship to the deceased.

How to submit:

• In person at the OVS office in Frankfort during business hours
• Placed in the physical drop box at the Frankfort office (processed on the next business day)
• Mailed to the OVS in Frankfort, with payment by check or money order made payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer

Credit cards are not accepted for mail-in orders. The check must be payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer specifically — not to the OVS or to CHFS.

The Fee: $6 Per Certified Copy

The Kentucky OVS charges a baseline fee of $6.00 per certified copy. This is a non-refundable search fee — it is charged regardless of whether the record is found or whether the copy is successfully produced.

The $6 fee applies only to direct OVS orders. Third-party vendors charge additional service fees on top of this baseline.

Using VitalChek for Faster Processing

The Kentucky OVS has designated VitalChek (www.vitalchek.com) as its exclusive authorized third-party vendor for electronic and phone orders. VitalChek charges additional service fees and optional expedited shipping fees above the $6 baseline, but it is the only vendor that actually connects to the Kentucky OVS system.

Warning: Search engine results for "Kentucky death certificate" surface numerous unauthorized third-party websites that mimic official government sites. These services charge excessive premium fees — sometimes $40 to $80 or more per certificate — and cause significant processing delays without providing any faster service than VitalChek or a direct mail order. If the URL does not end in ky.gov or is not VitalChek.com, it is not the official channel.

Processing Times

Standard mail processing takes approximately five business days from the date the OVS receives the application. However, systemic delays of up to 30 working days can occur in specific circumstances — most commonly when the original death certificate was not promptly filed by the attending physician or the funeral director. The OVS cannot issue a certified copy until the original record has been completed and registered.

If there is a filing delay, contact the funeral director first. The funeral director is responsible for obtaining the medical certifier's signature on the death certificate and filing it with the OVS. An unfiled certificate is the most common cause of unexpected delays.

How Many Certified Copies to Order

Ordering too few is the single most common and costly mistake families make. Certified copies cannot be shared between institutions — each institution typically requires its own original, watermarked copy. Ordering more now costs $6 per copy; ordering more later means another trip through the mail or VitalChek process, adding days to the estate settlement timeline.

Estimated minimum copies for a typical Kentucky estate:

A family with one life insurance policy, two bank accounts, one vehicle, and a house that needs probate will need approximately eight to ten certified copies. A more complex estate with multiple accounts, insurance policies, and out-of-state assets will need more.

The $6 per copy cost is trivial compared to the cost of a processing delay caused by running out of certificates mid-administration. Order at least ten copies on the first request.

What the Funeral Director Handles

Kentucky funeral directors are responsible for initiating the death certificate with the OVS — collecting the required medical certification from the attending physician and filing the original document. The funeral director typically orders a batch of certified copies on the family's behalf at the time of filing, which is the fastest way to obtain them.

Ask the funeral director how many copies they are ordering and whether you need to supplement that order. If the director is ordering six and you know you need ten, request the additional copies at the same time.

Keeping Track of What You Have

Number each certified copy in pencil on the back and keep a log of which institution received which copy. When an institution tells you they need "an original" but then returns it, mark that copy returned and reuse it. Some institutions (the Social Security Administration, for example) will accept a copy and return it; others (some probate courts) retain it permanently.

The death certificate is the first document needed to start every downstream step in the Kentucky estate settlement — probate filing, bank account access, vehicle transfers, and benefit claims. The When Someone Dies in Kentucky — Estate Settlement Guide includes a complete ordering checklist, institution-by-institution requirements, and the full step-by-step timeline from day one through final estate closure.

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