Groton Death Records

Death certificates in Groton are issued by the Groton Town Clerk for deaths that happen in town or involve Groton residents who died elsewhere in Connecticut. Groton has about 38,800 people and is in New London County. The town clerk office at Groton Town Hall keeps all vital records for the town. You can request a certified copy of a death certificate in person, by mail, or online through VitalChek. Most people get their death records from the town clerk because it is faster than going through the state office. Processing at the town level usually takes one to three business days in Groton.

Groton Town Clerk Office

The Groton Town Clerk handles all vital records for deaths that occur in Groton. This office is located in Groton Town Hall at 45 Fort Hill Road. You can visit during business hours to request a death certificate in person or send a request by mail. The town clerk staff can answer questions and help you fill out the form if you need assistance getting death records in Groton.

Groton Town Hall is on Fort Hill Road near Route 1. There is parking available at the town hall for people who drive. If you use public transit, check the local bus routes that serve the area. When you visit in person, bring a valid photo ID. The clerk must see your ID before they can give you a certified death certificate. Most requests made in person are completed the same day or within a few business days in Groton.

You can also get death records from the Connecticut State Vital Records Office in Hartford. The state has copies of all death records from July 1, 1897 to the present. State processing takes up to twelve weeks, which is much slower than the town office. The fee is the same at the state and town level. Most people choose the Groton Town Clerk for faster service on deaths that happened in Groton.

Who Can Get Death Certificates

Any person who is 18 years old or older can buy a certified copy of a death certificate in Groton. This is set by state law under C.G.S. § 7-51a. You do not need to be a family member. You do not need to give a reason. Connecticut allows open access to death records for any adult who wants to request them in Groton.

There is one limit. For deaths on or after July 1, 1997, only the surviving spouse or next of kin can get a copy of the death certificate with the Social Security number shown. Everyone else gets a certified copy with the Social Security number redacted. The rest of the information is the same. This protects the privacy of the deceased person's Social Security number while still letting the public access death records in Groton.

Funeral directors who handled the disposition of the body can also get a copy with the Social Security number if they ask within 60 days of the date of disposition. After 60 days, the funeral director gets a copy with the Social Security number redacted like everyone else. This rule helps funeral directors finish the paperwork they need right after a death happens in Groton.

How to Request a Death Certificate

To get a death certificate in Groton, you need to give the town clerk certain details. The clerk uses this information to search the vital records files and find the right record. The more information you have, the faster the clerk can process your request and issue the certificate for a death in Groton.

You must provide:

• Full name of the deceased person (last name in capital letters)
• Date of death
• Place of death (should be Groton)
• Sex of the deceased
• Date of birth of the deceased
• Names of the parents, including the mother's maiden name
• Your name and address
• Your relationship to the deceased
• Reason you need the record
• Your signature and the date of the request

If you do not have all of these details, call the Groton Town Clerk at (860) 441-6640 before you submit the form. The staff can tell you what information is required and what you can leave blank. In some cases, the clerk can search by name and an approximate date if you do not know the exact date of death in Groton.

Note: Each certified death certificate copy costs $20 in Groton.

Request Forms and Payment

Connecticut has a standard form for requesting death certificates at the town level. You can download the form for free from the state vital records website. Print the form and fill it out completely. Sign the form before you submit it to the Groton Town Clerk. The form asks for all the details the clerk needs to locate the death record in Groton.

Get the town death certificate request form here: Town Death Certificate Request Form. You can fill out the PDF on your computer and then print it, or you can print it first and fill it out by hand. Either way works fine for requests in Groton.

Payment must be a money order made out to the Town of Groton. Personal checks are not accepted for vital records in Connecticut. The fee is $20 for each certified copy. If you need two copies, you pay $40. If you go to the town clerk office in person, you can pay by cash. Some towns accept credit or debit cards with a service fee, but you should ask the Groton Town Clerk if that option is available before you visit.

If you are mailing your request, include a self-addressed stamped envelope so the clerk can send the death certificate back to you. Write your phone number on the form in case the clerk needs to contact you. Mail the completed form, the money order, and the return envelope to the Groton Town Clerk at the address listed above. Processing by mail usually takes one to two weeks from when the clerk receives your request in Groton.

Order Online Through VitalChek

VitalChek is the only third-party vendor that is approved by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. You can use VitalChek to order death certificates online any time of day or night. The site is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You pay with a credit card or debit card. VitalChek charges a processing fee and a shipping fee on top of the $20 state fee. The total cost depends on how fast you want the certificate delivered to you.

Visit www.vitalchek.com to place your order. Fill out the online form with the same information that is on the paper form. VitalChek asks for the name of the deceased, the date and place of death, and your contact information. You also choose how fast you want the certificate shipped. Standard shipping takes about a week. Express shipping gets the certificate to you in two to three business days but costs more.

VitalChek forwards your request to the Connecticut State Vital Records Office, not to the Groton Town Clerk. This means processing may take longer than if you went to the town clerk in person. If you need the death certificate right away, visit the Groton Town Clerk office. If you can wait a week or two, the online option is convenient for people who live far from Groton or who cannot visit during regular hours.

Veteran Fee Waiver

Connecticut law allows the spouse, child, or parent of a deceased veteran to get one free certified copy of the veteran's death certificate. This applies to deaths in Groton if the person who died was a veteran. You must bring proof of your relationship to the veteran and a valid government-issued photo ID. The veteran status must be shown on the death certificate for the fee waiver to apply. This rule is in C.G.S. § 7-74.

Proof of relationship can be a marriage certificate if you are the spouse, your birth certificate if you are the child, or the veteran's birth certificate if you are the parent. Bring these documents to the Groton Town Clerk office along with your photo ID. The clerk will review your documents and issue one free certified copy if everything is correct. If you need more than one copy, you must pay the regular fee of $20 for each additional copy of the death certificate in Groton.

Funeral directors can also get one free copy on behalf of the family at the time of death. This helps the family avoid paying for a certificate when the funeral director needs it to finish the arrangements. Ask the Groton Town Clerk about the veteran fee waiver when you make your request if you think you may qualify for it.

Older Death Records

Death records from before 1897 are not kept at the Groton Town Clerk office. These older records are at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford. The Barbour Collection at the state library has vital records from before 1850. There is also a Death Records Index that covers 1897 to 2001. You can use this index to search for deaths that happened in Groton during that time. The index shows the name, date, and place of death for each record.

The Connecticut State Library is at 231 Capitol Avenue in Hartford. You can visit the library to look at old records in person. Some records are also available online. Go to libguides.ctstatelibrary.org to see the Death Records Index. This is useful if you are doing family history research or looking for a death that happened a long time ago in Groton.

For deaths from 1897 to the present, the Groton Town Clerk and the state vital records office have copies. For anything before 1897, you need to contact the state library. The library staff can help you search for old death records and explain how to get copies if the records exist for Groton.

New London County Death Records

Groton is in New London County. New London County does not have a central office for death records. Each town in the county has its own town clerk who handles vital records for that town. There are 21 towns in New London County. Each town keeps death certificates for deaths that happened in that town. For more information about how death records work in New London County, visit the county page.

View New London County Death Records

Nearby Cities

If you need death records from towns near Groton, contact the town clerk in the town where the death occurred. Some larger towns close to Groton include New London and Waterford. Each town handles its own vital records. The fee and process are the same across Connecticut, but you must request the certificate from the correct town where the death happened.