Death-certificate fee in Pennsylvania: $20 per certified copy
The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Vital Records sets the fee and process below. Confirm current details on the office page before you order.
deathcertcost.us provides informational summaries of state vital-records office fees and processes. Fees and timelines change; verify with your state's vital-records office before relying. Not affiliated with any state agency or VitalChek.
Fee per certified copy
$20
The Pennsylvania vital-records office charges $20 for the first certified copy.
Standard processing time
3-4 weeks
Standard requests typically take 3-4 weeks. In-person orders are often faster than mail.
Ask the office whether an expedited option is available.
Copies typically needed
Each institution that handles the estate usually wants its own certified copy. The most common are:
- Bank & financial accounts
- Life-insurance death-benefit claim
- Probate court estate filing
- Pension, retirement & brokerage accounts
How to order
$20 per copy regardless of quantity. Online (mycertificates.health.pa.gov) adds $10 service fee; VitalChek is the only approved online vendor. Six in-person branch offices. Verified by direct fetch of state page.
Visit Pennsylvania Vital RecordsThis links to the official Pennsylvania office — not an aggregator or paid service.
Professional review in progress. How we check these figures is described on our methodology page.