For those doing genealogy research requiring data from Louisiana, keep in mind that the state is a closed record state. This means that vital records like the death certificate are not open to the public or otherwise public information, and that they can only be acquired by enumerated persons under law.

Among these people are: the surviving spouse of the deceased, his or her parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild of legal age, or the beneficiary of the deceased through an insurance policy or other legal interest.

In order to be able to acquire the death certificate, you have to prove that you are among the persons allows by Louisiana state law to request for this document. The identification requirement could be fulfilled either by providing one primary document or two secondary documents. Primary documents include drivers license with photo, government issued photo IDs, U.S. military ID, foreign issued passport, certificates of naturalization or citizenship, and school identification documents with photo. Secondary documents include, but are not limited to, deeds to property, vehicle documents, original adoption papers, or voter's registration document.

"Looking for Public Death Records in Louisiana?"

"Why not save some time by searching billions of public records? Make things a lot faster by starting your preliminary search at the top or bottom of this page to see if there's a record available for your query."

If you want to get your document within 24 hours and you're just within the locality, you can avail of the walk-in service at any Vital Records Office. Just download from the internet the application form, fill it up and bring it to the office. Don't forget to bring along with you your identification documents and the fees.

If you're not in a hurry and prefer to get the certificate by mail, you can fill up the application form and mail it with your identification documents and corresponding fees to the following address:

Vital Records Registry
PO Box 60630
New Orleans, LA 70160

You will get your certificate in 4-6 weeks time.

You can also request for the death certificate using the internet, or by phone or fax. In all three methods, you need to use your credit card to pay for them. You will have to supply the same kind of identification based on their individual instructions and each method will have additional fees. You can get more information on these methods from the website of the State of Louisiana.

"Looking for Public Death Records in Louisiana?"

"Why not save some time by searching billions of public records? Make things a lot faster by starting your preliminary search at the top or bottom of this page to see if there's a record available for your query."