Search Prince George's County Death Index

Prince George's County death index records and death certificates are available through the county health department in Largo and through the Maryland Division of Vital Records in Baltimore. The Largo office offers walk-in service for the public. For older records and genealogy work, the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis holds the historical death index going back to 1973 and earlier records in separate series. This page covers how to find and obtain Prince George's County death records.

Prince George's County Health Department , Death Certificates

The Prince George's County Health Department handles death certificate requests at 1301 McCormick Drive, Largo, MD 20774. The phone number is 301-883-7600. Walk-in service is available for the public. You do not need an appointment to visit the Largo office. This is a more straightforward setup than some Maryland counties, where appointments are required or public access is restricted.

The fee is $20.00 per copy. Payment is accepted in cash or by credit card. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID when you go. Staff will verify your identity and may ask for documentation of your relationship to the deceased. For most routine requests, a standard photo ID is sufficient to start the process. Call 301-883-7600 before your visit if you have questions about what to bring for a specific type of request.

The health department in Largo has death records for Prince George's County from 2015 to the present. For deaths from 1972 through 2014, the Maryland Division of Vital Records in Baltimore is the right source. Call the Division at 410-764-3038 or visit in person at 6764-B Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215. For deaths before 1972, use the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis. The VSA death records page outlines the full process for state-level ordering.

Prince George's County is the second most populous county in Maryland, with close to one million residents. The Largo office handles a high volume of requests. Plan for some wait time, especially if you visit mid-morning or early afternoon. Arriving close to opening time often means a shorter wait.

Prince George's County residents can order death certificates online through VitalChek at vitalchek.com, the state-authorized vendor for Maryland vital records.

VitalChek offers expedited processing and 24/7 ordering for Prince George's County and all other Maryland jurisdictions.

How to Search the Prince George's County Death Index

The Maryland State Archives SE151 Death Index is the primary tool for searching Prince George's County death records from 1973 through 2014. Prince George's County uses code 16 in that database. The index is free to search at the Archives SE151 guide page. Each entry shows the decedent's name, date of death, county code, and certificate number. Write down the certificate number when you find a match. It speeds up the ordering process whether you go to Largo, call the Division of Vital Records, or use VitalChek.

Prince George's County is large, and the SE151 index for code 16 has a significant number of entries. Common names may return many results. Add the year of death or the city to narrow your search. The index does not always have complete information for every field, especially for entries from the 1970s and early 1980s, so some manual review of results may be necessary. For deaths that occurred in specific Prince George's County communities like Bowie or Laurel, knowing the city helps filter the results.

For deaths from 2015 forward, SE151 is not current. Contact the Largo health department at 301-883-7600 or the Division of Vital Records at 410-764-3038 for those records. VitalChek is also available online for any year within the state system. The Archives death records FAQ explains the full scope of what each series covers and what years fall into each source.

Note: For deaths before 1973, skip SE151 and go straight to the Archives SE42 series or older ledger collections. Those records are separate from the SE151 index.

Fees and Ordering Prince George's County Death Records

The fee at the Prince George's County Health Department in Largo is $20.00 per copy. Cash and credit cards are accepted. This is consistent with the fee structure at many other Maryland county health offices. If you order multiple copies at the same visit, each copy is $20. Plan your order in advance so you can handle everything in one trip rather than returning for additional copies later.

To order by mail through the Maryland Division of Vital Records, send your request to 6764-B Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215. The fee is $12 for a certified copy or $10 if the search returns no record. Include a check or money order payable to the Division of Vital Records. Attach a copy of your photo ID and note your relationship to the deceased. Include the full name, date of death, and county of death in your letter. Mail processing takes several weeks. The VSA death page lists the current fee schedule and full submission instructions.

For historical Prince George's County death records at the Maryland State Archives, the fee for certified copies by mail is $25. Submit your request to 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, MD 21401 or use the Archives online order form. Include the decedent's name, approximate year of death, and Prince George's County as the county of death. The Archives staff will confirm whether the record exists before processing payment for certified copies.

Prince George's County Circuit Court and Probate Records

The Prince George's County Circuit Court is at 14735 Main Street, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772. The clerk of court is Mahasin El Amin. The clerk's office phone is 301-952-3477. The circuit court's page on the Maryland Courts website is at courts.state.md.us/clerks/princegeorges. The circuit court in Upper Marlboro handles civil cases, land records, domestic relations matters, and other court filings for Prince George's County. It does not issue death certificates.

For probate work in Prince George's County, the Register of Wills is the right office. Estate cases are filed there when a resident of Prince George's County dies and leaves assets that need to go through the probate process. The estate record typically includes the decedent's full name, date of death, names of heirs, and a summary of what the estate contains. All of that information is useful in death index research, especially when you need to verify details that are not clear from the death certificate alone.

Land records at the Prince George's County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro are also useful for death research. If the deceased owned property in Prince George's County, a deed search can confirm their name and address at the time of the transaction. Property records can help verify identity when working with common names. The clerk's office at 301-952-3477 can explain how to search land and case records for the Upper Marlboro courthouse.

Historical Prince George's County Death Records

For death records before 1973 in Prince George's County, the Maryland State Archives is the primary source. On microfilm, Prince George's County records are indexed under the code PG. The SE42 series covers deaths from 1898 through 1972. For deaths in Prince George's County between 1898 and 1972, SE42 is where you start. The Archives reading room at 350 Rowe Boulevard in Annapolis is open to the public, and staff can help identify the correct box or roll of microfilm for the county and year you need.

The S1179 series at the Archives contains older registration ledgers and vital statistics records going back further than SE42. For Prince George's County deaths before 1898, S1179 and related collections may have records depending on how consistently the county registered deaths in that era. Early death registration in Maryland was uneven. Some deaths were recorded, and some were not. When a formal death record does not exist, look for church burial registers, cemetery records, and census mortality schedules, which the Archives and local historical societies may hold.

The Archives also hold some digitized and online-accessible death records through the Maryland State Archives platforms. Some SE42 records have been scanned and can be viewed in the reading room on Archives computers or, in some cases, through online portals. The Archives death records FAQ outlines what is available digitally versus on microfilm only, and what years are covered for Prince George's County in each format.

Note: Call the Archives at 410-260-6400 before your visit to confirm microfilm availability and whether any records you need are in off-site storage with a retrieval lead time.

Register of Wills in Prince George's County

The Maryland Register of Wills portal at registers.maryland.gov covers Prince George's County estate records from 1998 to the present.

Estate records for Prince George's County are searchable by decedent name and can confirm death dates when other records are unavailable.

The statewide Register of Wills portal provides free online access to estate summaries for Prince George's County from 1998 forward. Search by the deceased person's name to find the estate number, filing date, and personal representative. Viewing the full case documents requires a visit or written request to the Prince George's County Register of Wills office. Given the size of the county, the volume of estate records in the database is large, and the online portal is worth checking before making a trip to Upper Marlboro.

Probate records in Prince George's County are a strong supplemental source for death index research. The decedent's date of death appears in the estate filing. The names of heirs and beneficiaries can help confirm family relationships and identify the right record when searching for a common name. For researchers working on Prince George's County family history, the Register of Wills portal combined with the SE151 death index at the Archives provides overlapping coverage for most of the years from 1973 to the present.

For estate matters that go to court in Prince George's County, the circuit court at 14735 Main Street in Upper Marlboro handles those filings. The Register of Wills manages the administrative side of probate, while the circuit court handles legal disputes and court orders tied to estates. Both offices are in Upper Marlboro, which is the county seat for Prince George's County.

Note: Estates with few or no assets may not go through formal probate. If no record appears in the online portal, that does not mean the person did not die in Prince George's County. Check the death index directly through SE151 or contact the Division of Vital Records.

Cities in Prince George's County

Prince George's County includes Bowie as a qualifying city with its own death records page. The county is also home to many large communities that file records through the Largo health department and Upper Marlboro circuit court.

Other communities in Prince George's County use the county health department for death index records.

Nearby Counties

These counties are adjacent to Prince George's County and maintain their own death index records.