How to get a death certificate in Kansas

Fees and where to order in Kansas

• Agency: KDHE Office of Vital Statistics, Curtis State Office Building, 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 120, Topeka, KS 66612-2221. Phone 785-296-1400.
• Fee: $20 for the first copy and $20 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time. The price rose from $15 to $20 on July 1, 2022.
• The first $20 pays for a five-year record search. If no record is found, the $20 is kept and you get a letter explaining the search.
• Online: through VitalChek, $20 per copy plus a $15 expedited service fee, processed within 3 to 5 business days after KDHE receives it. The credit card must be in your name. UPS delivery costs extra.
• Phone: 877-305-8315, open 24 hours a day, every day. $20 per copy plus the $15 VitalChek fee. Spanish interpreters are available.
• IKAN mobile app (IKan, State of Kansas): one certified copy per order, $20 plus a $5 processing fee. Mail delivery takes 7 to 10 business days. Will Call pickup in Topeka is usually ready the next business day, and only the applicant may pick it up with photo ID.
• Mail: application or letter, a copy of photo ID, and a check or money order payable to "Kansas Vital Statistics". Usually 7 to 10 business days, depending on volume.
• Walk-in: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, excluding holidays. Usually about 15 to 20 minutes if the record is easy to find. Cash, check, money order, or credit card.
• Who can order: a person named on the record, an immediate family member, or someone with legal proof the record is needed to determine personal or property rights (K.S.A. 65-2422d, as cited on the KDHE application). The application lists parents, current spouse, adult children, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and nieces and nephews. Requesters must be 18 or older. A legal guardian must send the guardianship papers.
• ID: a current government-issued photo ID. Without one, send copies of two other listed documents, such as a bank statement or utility bill with your current address.
• Timing after a death: the funeral director files the death certificate with the state within three days after death (K.S.A. 65-2412). KDHE does not say how many days pass before copies can be ordered. See the unverified list.
• Families who do not use a funeral home can file the death record themselves. Filing is free, and certified copies are $20 each.
• Johnson County's medical examiner says death certificates can be ordered through the chosen funeral home, and that the medical examiner's office does not issue them.
• Official ordering page: https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/1193/Death-Certificate (it links to VitalChek and to the IKAN app at https://apps.payitgov.com/ikan).

Sources: KDHE, Death Certificate; KDHE, Regular / Priority Mail; KDHE, Walk-in; KDHE, Telephone; KDHE, Application for Certified Copy of Kansas Death Certificate (VS-236); K.S.A. 65-2412(b)(1); Johnson County Medical Examiner, FAQ

How the death certificate fits the cremation timeline

Kansas requires a coroner's permit to cremate for every death that occurred in Kansas, not only for deaths the coroner investigates. The Board of Mortuary Arts says a funeral home's basic services usually include preparing and filing the needed authorizations and permits. No state law sets a fee, but each county may charge one, so ask the funeral home what your county charges.

• K.S.A. 65-2426a: no dead body may be cremated unless a coroner's permit to cremate has been executed, if the death or its cause occurred in Kansas or in a state that requires such a permit. A faxed or electronically signed copy counts. Knowingly violating this carries a fine of up to $500.
• The crematory needs two things before it may cremate: a cremation authorization form signed by the authorizing agent, and the completed coroner's permit to cremate (K.S.A. 65-1762(c)).
• The authorization form must name the deceased and the time and date of death, the arranging funeral director or authorizing agent, whether the death involved an infectious disease, the authorizing agent and their relationship, consent to cremate, a statement that no pacemaker or hazardous implant is present, and who will receive the ashes (K.S.A. 65-1762(c)(1)).
• Pacemakers and other hazardous implants must be removed before the body goes to the crematory. The authorizing agent must tell the funeral director about any known implant (K.S.A. 65-1763(a)).
• Fee: no statute sets a fee for the coroner's permit. A 2002 Kansas Attorney General opinion (No. 2002-34) says a board of county commissioners may set one under home rule. That opinion recorded a $35 fee in Sedgwick County in 2002; current county fees were not confirmed. See the unverified list.
• The Attorney General opinion explains the permit's purpose: to make sure the body is not needed as evidence, that no autopsy is needed, and that identity has been confirmed.
• The Board of Mortuary Arts says a family handling a death without a funeral home also needs the Coroner's Cremation Authorization.
• Every cremation in Kansas must be done at a licensed crematory under the personal supervision of a licensed crematory operator (K.S.A. 65-1770).

Sources: K.S.A. 65-2426a; K.S.A. 65-1762(c)(2); Kansas Attorney General Opinion No. 2002-34; KSBMA, Facts About Funerals; K.S.A. 65-1770

What to use the certified copies for

Social Security pays a one-time $255 death payment to a surviving spouse. If there is no spouse, some children may get it. You must apply within 2 years of the death, by phone or online after signing in.

Banks, insurers, pension plans, the VA and the county recorder each usually want their own certified copy, so ask the funeral home how many to order at the start. Extra copies ordered at the same time often cost less.

• A spouse who lived with the person may qualify. A spouse living apart may qualify if they can get benefits on the deceased's record.
• If there is no spouse, eligible children include those 17 or younger, 18 to 19 in school (K to 12) full time, or any age if disabled before age 22 ("at age 21 or younger").
• Apply within 2 years of the death.
• Phone: 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), weekdays 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; tell the representative you want to apply for a lump-sum death payment. The page also offers an online application after signing in to an account.

Source: SSA, Lump-sum death payment