Access Manchester Death Records

Death certificates in Manchester are issued by the Manchester Town Clerk for all deaths that occur in town. Manchester has about 60,000 people and is in Hartford County. The town clerk office at Manchester Town Hall keeps vital records for the town and issues certified copies to anyone who needs them. You can request a death certificate in person, by mail, or online through VitalChek. The town clerk typically processes requests much faster than the state office. Most requests are completed in one to three business days if you go to the town clerk in Manchester.

Manchester Town Clerk Office

The Manchester Town Clerk handles all vital records for deaths that occur in Manchester. This office is in Manchester Town Hall at 41 Center Street. 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 help getting death records in Manchester.

Manchester Town Hall is on Center Street in the center of town. There is parking available at the town hall for visitors. CT Transit bus routes serve the area around town hall, so you can use public transit if you do not drive. When you visit the clerk office, bring a valid photo ID. The clerk must see your ID before issuing a certified copy of a death certificate. Most walk-in requests are completed the same day or within a few business days in Manchester.

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

Who Can Get Death Certificates

Any person who is 18 years old or older can buy a certified copy of a death certificate in Manchester. This is set by Connecticut state law under C.G.S. § 7-51a. You do not need to be related to the person who died. You do not have to explain why you need the record. Connecticut allows open access to death records for any adult who wants to request them in Manchester.

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 on both versions. This protects the privacy of the deceased person's Social Security number while still letting the public access death records in Manchester.

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 helps funeral directors finish the paperwork they need right after a death happens in Manchester.

How to Request a Death Certificate

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

You must provide:

• Full name of the deceased person (last name in capital letters)
• Date of death
• Place of death (should be Manchester)
• 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 your request

If you do not have all of these details, call the Manchester Town Clerk at (860) 647-3037 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 approximate date if you do not know the exact date of death in Manchester.

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

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 Manchester Town Clerk. The form asks for all the details the clerk needs to locate the death record in Manchester.

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 Manchester.

Payment must be a money order made payable to the Town of Manchester. 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, so ask the Manchester Town Clerk if that option is available when you visit or call.

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

Online Ordering Through VitalChek

VitalChek is the only third-party vendor approved by the Connecticut Department of Public Health to process online orders for death certificates. You can use VitalChek to order a death certificate any time of day or night. The website 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 the shipping method. Standard shipping takes about a week. Express shipping gets the certificate to you in two to three business days but costs more.

VitalChek sends your request to the Connecticut State Vital Records Office, not to the Manchester 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 Manchester Town Clerk office. If you can wait a week or two, the online option is convenient for people who live far from Manchester or who cannot visit during regular business 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 Manchester 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 is required by 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 Manchester 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 Manchester.

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 Manchester 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 Manchester 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 Manchester 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 Manchester.

For deaths from 1897 to the present, the Manchester 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 Manchester.

Hartford County Death Records

Manchester is in Hartford County. Hartford County does not have a central office for death records because Connecticut keeps vital records at the town level. Each of the 29 towns in Hartford County has its own town clerk who handles death certificates. For deaths in other towns near Manchester, you would contact the town clerk in that town. For more information about how death records work in Hartford County, visit the county page.

View Hartford County Death Records

Nearby Cities

If you need death records from towns near Manchester, each town clerk office handles its own vital records. Some larger towns close to Manchester include Hartford, Glastonbury, East Hartford, and Bolton. Each town has the same fee and the same process, but you must go to the right town where the death occurred to get the certificate.