Richmond County Death Records Lookup

Richmond County death records go through the New York City system. Richmond County is Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issues death certificates for all deaths on Staten Island from 1949 to the present. Historical death records from 1898 to 1948 are at the NYC Municipal Archives. The Richmond County Clerk at 130 Stuyvesant Place in Staten Island does not keep death records. This page explains every way to get Richmond County death records, from recent certificates to old genealogy files.

Getting Richmond County Death Records (1949 to Present)

The NYC Department of Health at 125 Worth Street, CN4, Room 133, New York, NY 10013 handles all death certificates for Staten Island. Phone: (212) 788-4520. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The same office serves all five boroughs.

A death certificate costs $15. Online orders through VitalChek add a $9.30 processing fee. In person orders have a $2.75 security fee. You can order by mail too. Send a completed application with a check or money order payable to "NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene" plus a copy of your photo ID and a notarized signature. Mail orders take at least 30 days. In person visits offer same day service.

Close family members can get both the standard certificate and the confidential medical report with cause of death. That includes the spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and grandchild. More distant relatives like nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles can only get the standard certificate without the cause of death.

The screenshot below shows the NYC DOH death certificates ordering page used for Richmond County.

This NYC DOH page is your starting point for ordering death certificates for any death that occurred on Staten Island.

Historical Richmond County Death Records (Before 1949)

The NYC Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers Street, Room 103, New York, NY 10007 has Staten Island death records from 1898 to 1948. Phone: (212) 788-8580. There are also scattered earlier records from towns and villages before Staten Island joined New York City in 1898.

The Archives charges $5 per certificate when you know the exact year. A search costs $10. In person microfilm research is free. Certified copies from the counter cost $11 each. The Historical Vital Records of NYC project is putting original records online. You can search and order copies through that system. Non-certified PDF copies cost $3.50. Certified copies are $18 and take 8 to 10 weeks.

One historical note: the NYS Department of Health has birth records from Richmond County for 1881 through 1897, before the borough was fully part of NYC. But for death records, the city system is the only source. Do not send requests to Albany for a Staten Island death.

Richmond County Surrogate's Court

The Richmond County Surrogate's Court is at 18 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301. Phone: (718) 675-8500 or (718) 390-5400. Fax: (718) 390-8741. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Surrogate Matthew J. Titone presides.

This court handles probate of wills, letters testamentary and administration, guardianships, adoptions, and control over executors and trustees. The Records Room for public searches is in Room B-3 at the basement level. Hours for the Records Room are Monday through Friday, 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM. Access is limited to half hour segments with a maximum of two people at a time. Enter at the corner of Schuyler Street and Richmond Terrace.

The WebSurrogate system lets you search estate proceedings online for free. The Richmond County Surrogate's Court Help Center also assists families with issues related to deceased relatives from the September 11 attacks, including permission to enter sealed residences and estate administration questions.

Richmond County Clerk's Office

The Richmond County Clerk is at 130 Stuyvesant Place, 2nd Floor, Staten Island, NY 10301. Phone: (718) 675-7700 or (718) 675-8960. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. County Clerk Stephen J. Fiala leads the office.

The Richmond County Clerk does not have death records. This office handles land records from 1884, naturalization records from 1907 to 1960, declarations of intention from 1884 to 1929, court records, and property deeds. The office was founded in 1683 and is the oldest governmental institution on Staten Island. For death records, go to the NYC DOH or the Municipal Archives.

Historical and Genealogy Resources

The Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmond Town, 441 Clarke Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10306, has local history collections. Phone: (718) 351-1611. The St. George Library Center at 5 Central Avenue has research resources. Phone: (718) 442-8560.

The Staten Island Historian can be reached at 460 Brielle Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10314. Email: sihistorian@aol.com. The historian can point you to local resources for death-related research including cemetery records and obituary collections.

FamilySearch has the NYC Municipal Deaths index covering 1795 to 1949. Staten Island deaths from 1898 forward are included. The German Genealogy Group has a NYC death index from 1868 to 1948. Reclaim The Records has made several New York vital records indexes available for free through the Internet Archive.

Death records over 50 years old are public under New York law. The NYC Department of Records and Information Services, through the Municipal Archives, handles public requests for these older Richmond County death records.

Richmond County Death Records Fees

• NYC DOH death certificate: $15 per copy
• Online processing fee (VitalChek): $9.30
• In-person security fee: $2.75
• Additional copies (same order): $3 each
• Municipal Archives (exact year known): $5
• Municipal Archives (search needed): $10
• Historical certified copies: $18 each

The NYC fees are lower than the $30 to $45 the state charges for death records outside the city. Cash is not accepted at the NYC DOH office.

Nearby Counties

Richmond County is an island borough, but these nearby counties handle death records through related systems: