Arizona Death Records: How to perform a Arizona Death Records Search

Arizona death records are requested for several reasons, chief among which are for their use in setting legal cases and other official purposes. 

People who seek to make certain claims on behalf of a dead person must obtain a death certificate to that effect. 

These death records also provide a veritable source of data that is used by government agencies in the design and implementation of health and social intervention programs. 

This article is designed to provide a guide for people who are out to find these death records in Arizona. 

Death Records in Arizona 

Arizona death records are created In response to any death recorded in the state. 

Their chief purpose is to provide official documentation of the "death event" and take note of the persons affected by the death. 

Chief among the information featured in these documents include the personal information of the deceased and a host of others related to the funeral director and the decedent's direct relative.

Death records are commonly filed in the Arizona Department of Health Services - Bureau of Vital Records (ADHS-Bureau of Vital Records). 

This agency sees to the management and issuance of death records albeit to people deemed to be eligible to receive them. 

Eligibility stems from a direct relationship with the decedent or a legal relationship with them, as with a legal representative. 

What Will You Find In An Arizona Death Record?

Arizona death records contain informational data about the decedent(the person named in the death record). 

This includes the full name and any known alias of the person, their sex, color, race, title, age, and last known residence at the time of their death. 

Others include the date and place of birth and death, the record's state file/index number, etc.

A section of the death record is also designed to display the physician's certification, i.e, the circumstances surrounding the death. 

To top it off, the funeral director's signature and identifying information are attached as well. 

How Are Arizona Death Records Created?

The Arizona Administrative Codes (A.A.C) R9-19-302 to R9-19-304 stipulate that a local county registrar must be on hand to register a death record to account for any deaths recorded in the state. 

The bulk of the preliminary data contained in this death record is provided by the decedent's relative, with their personal information ranking among the featured entries.

Others include notes about the cause of death, and the date and place where the death was recorded, all of which are noted and drafted by the funeral director using the DAVE template. 

An acronym of the Database Application for Vital Events, the DAVE format mostly makes provision for including a medical certification of the death.

This is followed by the submission of the record to the local or state registrar who gets to ascertain the veracity of the information contained in it within 7 days of the death. 

The last step is to certify it by assigning it a registration number before filing it with the ADHS-Bureau of Vital Records for filing and registration.

Where To Find Arizona Death Records:

While Arizona death records are not exactly readily accessible to the public, they can be picked up by eligible persons from their official custodians and on third-party websites. 

These next sections discuss some of the ways to find death records in Arizona. 

The Arizona Department of Health Services - Bureau of Vital Records

You can find Arizona death records by contacting the ADHS-Bureau of Vital Records or the health department office in the local county where the death was recorded. 

Certified copies of these death certificates dating back to July 1909 are filed with the bureau, with abstracts of the records available for those filed way back in 1855.

Eligible persons get to request these death records by mail after they've completed and submitted an application for a Certified Copy of the Death Certificate. 

The contents of the application must include the requester's proof of eligibility, a copy of their identification card, and a money order or check equivalent to the service charge.

This charge is listed as $20 per certified copy and $5 more for a non-certified copy, the difference being that the latter can only be used for informational purposes. 

Alternatively, you can walk into the bureau, accompanied by proof of eligibility, valid ID, and the necessary payment. 

You can stop by the office address provided below and lodge your death record inquiry:

The Bureau of Vital Records,
1818 W. Adams,
Phoenix, AZ 85007,
Phone: (602) 364-1300,
(888) 816-5907

Third-Party Websites

You can use a third-party website to find death records in Arizona as long as the sought-after record is publicly available. 

You'd be required to provide the name of the deceased person and the name of the state where the record was created in designated search fields. 

The search results can be whittled down to display the one of interest to you and you can go on to access it if you've paid for the service.