Californians: Quickly Get a Death Certificate Online with VitalChek Services
By Marissa Bergen and Troy Centazzo
Information and Statistics Provided by Mike Padilla, VitalChek.
Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy, and the excessive time it takes to get a death certificate in California can add to the stress. Opal Cremation partners with VitalChek to speed up this process as part of our convenient service.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What is VitalChek?
- Why VitalCheck? Fast Turnaround and Trust
- The VitalChek Solution: The Fastest Way to Get a Death Certificate
- The Death Certificate Process
- How Much Does VitalChek Cost?
- How Opal Works with VitalChek
Key Takeaways
- With traditional methods, death certificates can take weeks or months to process, adding to stress when families are grieving and preventing them from accessing family funds.
- VitalChek speeds up the process by offering an easy online form, immediate verification, direct submission to agencies, and fast shipping at a low price.
- Opal partners with VitalChek, offering convenient services to our Los Angeles and Orange County customers that enhance our sense of transparency and dedication to client satisfaction.
Introduction
Opal Cremation is always looking for ways to ease our clients’ burden of dealing with the death of a loved one.
That’s why Opal Cremation founder, Troy Centazzo, met with the VitalChek Funeral Home Portal Project Manager, Mike Padilla, on January 4, 2022. The two professionals discussed a better process for quickly and easily obtaining death certificates.
The goal was to help Opal’s clients obtain death certificates within a few days rather than a few weeks.
One of the first funeral homes in Southern California to use VitalChek to process death certificates for its clients, Opal’s clients receive their certificates in days rather than weeks or more, a service included with its comprehensive, fixed-price cremation package.
What is VitalChek?
VitalChek is a service that allows funeral homes to order and ship death certificates online and on an expedited basis. They can be sent directly to the customer via USPS First Class Mail for free or via UPS Express Delivery for $19–$20, depending on the county.
The company is a subsidiary business of RelEx, “a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.” The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs over 33,000 people, of whom almost half are in North America, and generates nine billion dollars in revenue each year.
According to VitalChek’s website:
- VitalChek is the #1 authorized resource for ordering official, government-issued vital records online.
- Since 1987, VitalChek has provided a convenient service, allowing Americans to easily and securely order official copies or replacements of government-issued birth, death, marriage, and divorce records.
- VitalChek is an official service provider for hundreds of government agencies throughout the United States and U.S. Territories, helping to safely deliver millions of life’s most important documents every year.
- The company provides a safe, easy, and convenient way to obtain your family’s vital records.
Why VitalChek? Fast Turnaround and Trust.
A somber moment in a hospital corridor, featuring medical staff and a death certificate on a table.
As the only external processor authorized by agencies nationwide to order vital records online, VitalChek is by far the best solution for funeral homes that order death certificates as a service, reducing wait time from weeks to days.
VitalChek offers its services to consumers, government agencies, and now, funeral homes, a service made available in Los Angeles in February 2021. Not only do they provide death certificates, but consumers can also order other vital records, such as marriage certificates and birth certificates, through the website.
In California, VitalChek has agreements with each county health department, except Riverside (as of the writing of this article). This makes VitalChek a trusted, credible, and widely-used option for obtaining vital records. Check your county to see if it has an agreement with VitalChek.
The VitalChek Solution: The Fastest Way to Get a Death Certificate
Traditionally, death certificates have been ordered from local health departments through a time-consuming, manual process. Funeral homes spent valuable time and resources filling out and filing paper order requests at LA County’s downtown vital records office.
Now, VitalChek is here, and it’s a game-changer. What was once an arduous process has become an easy task. Funeral homes can simply go to the VitalChek online dashboard and order death certificates with a few clicks.
The processing time is only a couple of days, compared with several weeks. For a small fee (2.5% of the order total before shipping), you can order death certificates in a fraction of the time it takes with the traditional process.
“VitalChek is a game changer. What used to take days or more now takes only minutes,” says Troy Centazzo, CEO of Opal Cremation. “We’re in the business of helping families during a difficult time in their lives, and this expedited service allows us to dramatically shorten the wait.”
VitalChek is another reason Opal remains a leader in the Southern California funeral home industry. Only 25% of funeral homes in Southern California use VitalChek to obtain death certificates for their clients, meaning 75% of clients in SoCal wait up to two months to receive them.
Opal processes all death certificates through the VitalChek service, ensuring death certificates arrive within days or weeks, at most.
The Death Certificate Process
In February of 2021, the wait time for death certificates was ridiculous. An already long process was getting longer due to the pandemic. Increasing death rates and staff shortages contributed to the slowdown.
Families were plagued in more ways than one. They could not complete funeral arrangements, prolonging closure and adding to stress. Many families were also unable to access funds from financial institutions that required official documents before releasing money.
All that changed when VitalChek announced its partnership with funeral homes. Today, families can access death certificates in days or weeks instead of months, allowing them to benefit from their loved one’s assets and move on with their lives.
When ordering death certificates, families should consider how many they need. Although there is always the option to order more later, ordering too few can be inconvenient, especially when they are needed to access funds. Read our article Who to Notify When Someone Dies to learn more about how many death certificates your family may require.
The Traditional Process
- A paper application is mailed or dropped off at the local county records office.
- The funeral home waits for the death certificate to be processed.
Processing time: 3 to 8 weeks - Death certificates get mailed to the funeral home.
Processing time: 5 to 7 days - The funeral home mails them to families, or the family representative must pick them up at the funeral home.
Processing time: 5 to 7 days
Total processing time with direct filing: UP TO 10 WEEKS
Opal Cremation’s New Process to Quickly Order Death Certificates Online With VitalChek
After a death certificate has been approved and certified by the local health agency, Opal Cremation uses VitalChek to order death certificates online in Southern California through its easy-to-use dashboard. The Social Security Administration is notified of the death.
VitalChek also recently introduced a new feature providing disposition permits in addition to death certificates. The ordering process takes about 5 minutes, freeing up our team of professionals to focus on the care and support of our valued customers.
- Use VitalChek’s online dashboard to order death certificates.
Processing time: 5 minutes - Electronic Identity Validation: VitalChek uses LexisNexis technology to verify your identity, which is faster and more secure than manual validation.
- Direct Submission to Agencies: As an exclusive online partner with over 450 government agencies, VitalChek submits your order directly to the appropriate agency, eliminating mail-related delays.
Processing time: 1 to 3 days - The death certificate is shipped directly to the client via USPS First Class or expedited via UPS Express, eliminating the delay of mailing it to the funeral home first.
Processing time: 2 days for expedited UPS shipping, 5 to 7 days for USPS shipping.
Total Processing time with VitalChek: 3 to 10 days
What Families Can Expect With and Without VitalChek
| What You Experience as a Family | Without Opal & VitalChek | With Opal & VitalChek |
| How long you wait | 3-10+ weeks | 3-10 days |
| How you request certificates | Paper forms sent via mail or online visits | Opal submits digitally |
| Where certificates are sent | Usually sent to the funeral home for pickup | Sent directly to your home |
| Shipping Options | Standard mail with limited tracking | Free USPS first class or 2-day express with tracking |
| Access to an early working copy | Rarely available | Often provided before cremation |
| When you can start estate, insurance tasks | Often weeks of delay | Within days |
| Overall Emotional Impact | Added stress and uncertainty during grief | Reduced administrative burden so you can focus on healing |
“Processing can be even faster if the family has all the documents and information prepared in advance, such as the decedent’s full name, date and place of death, and ID and proof of entitlement, if needed. We also recommend that families fill out all forms we send them right away.”
How Much Does VitalChek Cost?
VitalChek provides significant value for just 2.5% of the death certificate fee.
So, for a $26 death certificate, VitalChek charges as little as $1.75 cents. USPS shipping is free. For expedited shipping through UPS, there is a $19 fee.
For the cost of a candy bar, clients can cut the time to process a death certificate by 86%, reducing it to as little as two days.
VitalChek Testimonials
VitalChek has received several positive reviews, as follows:
“Thank you for helping me through what I thought would be a complicated process. You made it easy.”
-Connie M
Thank you very much for such quick service, well within 72 hours as promised, and just what I needed.”
Alan C.
I want to express, as clearly as I can, how much your help with my recent VitalChek orders has been to me and my husband… You took your time to understand what I needed… In this age of hurrying, that was remarkable.”
Donna L.
How Opal Works with Vital Chek
Opal only uses VitalChek to order death certificates for Los Angeles and Orange County clients. Our customers are usually surprised by how quickly their records arrive. To date, we have provided the service via UPS Express shipping as part of our all-inclusive cremation package, which includes a tracking number so clients can follow their delivery.
Additionally, Opal provides the electronic “working copy” of the registered death certificate to customers (families) when we receive the county permits -generally a few days or a week before the cremation. This is helpful because some businesses will now accept the electronic version instead of requiring a paper certified copy.
Opal Cremation remains on the cutting edge of the funeral home industry through collaborations such as its partnership with VitalChek. Troy Centazzo is passionate about ensuring Opal’s customers feel cared for and that the cremation process and arrangement experience is the best in Southern California.
Visit VitalChek’s website for more information about the positive impacts it has on funeral home businesses and their clients. And contact us by phone, email, or through our websites to learn more about our all-inclusive direct cremation services. Learn what makes us the best cremation company in Southern California.
FAQs
What is VitalChek, and how does it help with Los Angeles and Orange County death certificates?
VitalChek is an online system for ordering death certificates and other vital records. It speeds up the process by providing an online application form, electronic validation, direct submission to agencies, and fast shipping.
What information do I need to order a death certificate online?
To order a death certificate, you will need the decedent’s full name, date of death, place of death, a valid government ID, proof of entitlement (sometimes needed), and a credit card to make the payment.
Who can order a death certificate?
Entitlement varies by agency and certificate type. Generally, authorized copies require proof of the relationship to the decedent. Informational copies are open to all.
Can VitalChek provide apostilled or authenticated death certificates?
To order apostilled or authenticated death certificates, check the appropriate box when you order online. If your state agency does not offer this option, order a standard certificate and send it to your Secretary of State office separately.
How does VitalCheck verify my identity?
VitalCheck verifies identities using LexisNexis technology. If your identity cannot be verified electronically, a sworn statement is required.
Additional Death Certificate Resources:
Death Certificates: Everything You Need to Know
How to Get a Copy of a Death Certificate in California
