Search Middletown Death Certificates

Death certificates in Middletown are issued by the Middletown City Clerk for all deaths that occur in the city. Middletown has about 48,600 people and is in Middlesex County. The city clerk office at Middletown City Hall keeps vital records for the city and issues certified copies to anyone who needs them. You can request a death certificate in person, by mail, or online through VitalChek. The city 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 city clerk in Middletown.

Middletown City Clerk Office

The Middletown City Clerk handles all vital records for deaths that occur in Middletown. This office is in Middletown City Hall at 245 Dekoven Drive. You can visit during business hours to request a death certificate in person or send a request by mail. The city clerk staff can answer questions and help you fill out the form if you need help getting death records in Middletown.

Middletown City Hall is on Dekoven Drive near the center of the city. There is parking available at city hall for visitors. If you use public transit, check the local bus routes that serve the area around city hall. 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 Middletown.

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 city office. The fee is the same at both the state and city level. Most people choose the Middletown City Clerk for faster service on deaths that happened in Middletown.

Who Can Get Death Certificates

Any person who is 18 years old or older can buy a certified copy of a death certificate in Middletown. 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 Middletown.

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 Middletown.

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 Middletown.

How to Request a Death Certificate

To get a death certificate in Middletown, you need to give the city 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 Middletown.

You must provide:

• Full name of the deceased person (last name in capital letters)
• Date of death
• Place of death (should be Middletown)
• 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 Middletown City Clerk at (860) 638-4960 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 Middletown.

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

Request Forms and Payment

Connecticut has a standard form for requesting death certificates at the city 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 Middletown City Clerk. The form asks for all the details the clerk needs to locate the death record in Middletown.

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 Middletown.

Payment must be a money order made payable to the City of Middletown. 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 city clerk office in person, you can pay by cash. Some cities accept credit or debit cards with a service fee, so ask the Middletown City 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 Middletown City Clerk at the address listed above. Processing by mail usually takes one to two weeks from when the clerk receives your request in Middletown.

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 Middletown City Clerk. This means processing may take longer than if you went to the city clerk in person. If you need the death certificate right away, visit the Middletown City Clerk office. If you can wait a week or two, the online option is convenient for people who live far from Middletown 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 Middletown 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 Middletown City 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 Middletown.

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 Middletown City 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 Middletown City 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 Middletown 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 Middletown.

For deaths from 1897 to the present, the Middletown City 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 Middletown.

Middlesex County Death Records

Middletown is in Middlesex County and is the county seat. Middlesex County does not have a central office for death records because Connecticut keeps vital records at the town and city level. Each of the 15 towns in Middlesex County has its own clerk who handles death certificates. For deaths in other towns near Middletown, you would contact the clerk in that town. For more information about how death records work in Middlesex County, visit the county page.

View Middlesex County Death Records

Nearby Cities

If you need death records from towns near Middletown, each clerk office handles its own vital records. Some towns close to Middletown include Cromwell, Portland, Durham, and Berlin. 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. Middletown is also home to Wesleyan University, so if you are looking for death records related to the university, make sure the death occurred within Middletown city limits.