Livingston County Death Records Search

Livingston County death records go back to the 1880s when New York State started keeping track of vital events. The county seat is Geneseo, a small college town in the Genesee Valley west of the Finger Lakes. Livingston County has around 62,000 residents spread across 17 towns and 6 villages. Death certificates here are held by individual town and village clerks, not the County Clerk. If you need a death record from Livingston County, your first step is to figure out which town the death took place in. That will tell you which clerk to contact. The state also keeps copies from 1881 forward.

Where Livingston County Death Records Are Kept

Death records in Livingston County are held at the local level. Each town and village clerk keeps records for deaths that happened in their area. The Livingston County Clerk in Geneseo handles land records, court documents, and some marriage records. But the County Clerk does not have birth or death certificates. Those are with the town clerks.

The towns in Livingston County include Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo, Groveland, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, Mount Morris, North Dansville, Nunda, Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater, West Sparta, and York. Each one has its own clerk office. If you know which town the death took place in, call that clerk first. They can issue a certified copy of the death certificate, and it is usually faster than going through the state.

For deaths in the Village of Geneseo, contact the village clerk. For deaths in the Village of Dansville, go through the Dansville village clerk. Same goes for the villages of Avon, Caledonia, Lima, and Mount Morris. The village and town clerks have been keeping death records since 1881 in most cases.

Getting Livingston County Death Records from the State

The New York State Department of Health has copies of Livingston County death records from 1881 to the present. You can order by mail for $30 per copy. Send the form to the Vital Records Certification Unit at P.O. Box 2602, Albany, NY 12220-2602. Online and phone orders go through VitalChek and cost $45 plus a processing fee. The toll-free number is (855) 322-1022.

The state is dealing with big delays right now. Local clerks are usually faster. If you can figure out which town the death happened in, that is the better route. A local clerk can often turn around a request in a week or less. The state can take months.

To order, you need valid photo ID. A driver's license, passport, or state ID works. If you do not have photo ID, send two documents with your name and address, like a utility bill and a government letter dated in the last six months. The spouse, parent, child, or sibling of the person who died can request a copy. Others need to show a lawful right or claim, such as an insurance company letter or a court order.

Livingston County Death Records for Genealogy

Genealogy researchers can get uncertified copies of death records that are at least 50 years old. The NYS DOH genealogy page explains how this works. The fee starts at $22 for a one to three year search. Wider searches cost more. A 41 to 50 year search runs $122. Direct line descendants can request records without the 50 year wait, but they need to prove their relationship to the person on the record.

The New York State Archives has microfiche indexes to death records from 1880 to 1943. These indexes cover Livingston County deaths. You can search them for free in person at the Cultural Education Center, 222 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY 12230. The archives staff can also do a search for you by mail, though there is a fee for that service.

For older Livingston County records, check with the Livingston County Historian. The historian's office keeps obituaries, cemetery records, church records, and family files that can fill in gaps where official death certificates do not exist. Cemetery records are especially useful for deaths before 1881, since the state did not require registration until that year.

Livingston County Surrogate's Court

The Livingston County Surrogate's Court handles wills, probate, and estate cases. When someone dies, their estate often goes through this court. Probate records can be a useful source of death information because the court file usually includes the date of death, names of heirs, and other details. The court is at the Livingston County Courthouse in Geneseo.

You can search Surrogate's Court records online through WebSurrogate. This free tool from the New York State court system lets you look up cases by name across all 62 counties. Livingston County probate records go back to 1821 when the county was formed from Genesee and Ontario counties. Small estate proceedings are also filed here for estates valued under $50,000.

Free Resources for Livingston County Death Records

The New York State Death Index on FamilySearch covers Livingston County deaths from 1880 to 1956. This free database gives you names, dates, and counties, which helps you figure out where to send a formal request. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society publishes county guides that include Livingston County vital records information.

The Livingston County Historical Society and the Wadsworth Library in Geneseo both hold local history and genealogy collections. These can include obituary files, newspaper indexes, and cemetery transcriptions. The Genesee Valley Council on the Arts and local libraries in Dansville, Avon, and Lima may also have resources for tracing Livingston County death records. Public libraries in New York often provide free access to Ancestry Library Edition, which includes historical death indexes.

Nearby Counties and Cities

Livingston County borders several other counties in western New York. Genesee County is to the north. Monroe County sits to the northeast. Ontario County is to the east. Steuben County is to the south, and Allegany County borders it to the southwest. Wyoming County is to the west.

There are no cities in Livingston County that meet the population threshold for a separate page. The largest community is Dansville, followed by Geneseo, Avon, and Mount Morris. For death records in any of these communities, contact the local town or village clerk directly. If the death took place in a neighboring county, you will need to go through that county's clerks or the state instead.