St Lucie County Florida Obituary Records help families confirm deaths, settle estates, and trace family history. The Florida Department of Health in St Lucie County handles death certificates from 2009 forward.
Older records sit with the state records bureau in Jacksonville. Local funeral homes, newspapers, and online databases add more obituary data. This page covers where to search, what records exist, fees, and how to order copies through every channel available to residents and researchers.
Where to Find St Lucie County Obituary Records
Three main sources hold obituary and death records for St Lucie County residents. Each source covers different time periods and record types. Knowing the right office saves time and money on every request.
Florida Department of Health Records Office
The St Lucie County office of the Florida Department of Health sits at 5150 NW Milner Drive in Port St. Lucie. Staff handle walk-in, mail, and online orders for death certificates. The office keeps records from 2009 to the present. Phone support runs Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM at (772) 462-3800. The local office serves Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie Village, and the surrounding unincorporated communities that fall within the county.
Local Funeral Home Obituary Listings
Funeral homes in Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie keep their own obituary archives. Major providers in the area cover the following:
- Aycock Funeral Home
- Haisley Funeral Home and Cremation Service
- Yates Funeral Home and Cremation Services
- Milligan Funeral Home
- Avie-Cox Davis Funeral Home
Their websites list current and past obituaries with full names, dates, and service details. Calling the funeral home directly can pull records that pre-date online listings. Most funeral homes keep archives from the 1940s or 1950s forward, depending on how long the business has served the area.
Online Obituary Search Platforms
Several national websites index Florida obituaries. The main platforms cover:
- Legacy.com
- Newspapers.com
- Ancestry.com
- FamilySearch.org
- Find a Grave
- BillionGraves
Searches by name, county, or date return matching entries with scanned images. Most sites offer free basic searches that show names and dates. Full obituary text and images require a paid subscription or library card access. FamilySearch.org remains the only fully free option that indexes Florida obituaries without a paid tier.
Types of Death Records Available
Florida issues two death certificate versions. Each version has different access rules. Choosing the right type depends on the purpose of the request and the relationship between the requester and the deceased.
Public Death Certificates Without Cause of Death
The version without cause of death is open to the public. Any person 18 or older can order this copy. It shows the full name, date of death, place of death, and basic demographic details. Social Security numbers appear partially redacted under Florida Statute Chapter 119. This copy works for genealogy, confirming a death, and most legal tasks that do not need cause data. Banks, life insurance companies, and Social Security offices accept this copy for most claim work.
Restricted Death Certificates With Cause of Death
The version with cause of death stays sealed for 50 years from the date of death. Only specific relatives or legal representatives can request it. Eligible parties cover a surviving spouse, parent, adult child, adult grandchild, adult sibling, or any person with a court order or documented estate claim. Requesters must complete DH Form 1959 to prove eligibility before the office releases this copy. Attorneys working on wrongful death suits and life insurance disputes also qualify under the law.
Costs and Fees for Death Records
Florida uses one fee schedule for death certificates across all counties. Local offices follow the same prices. Online vendors charge extra fees for convenience and faster shipping.
Walk-In Request Fees
Walk-in orders at the St Lucie County DOH office cost $5 for the search and first certified copy. Each extra copy ordered at the same time costs $4. Most walk-in requests finish the same day, with the certificate printed while you wait at the counter. Bring a valid photo ID and the full name plus date of death for the person on the record. The cashier only accepts cash, checks, or money orders for walk-in orders.
Mail Order Fees
Mail orders use the same $5 base fee plus $4 per extra copy. Send with your order the following documents:
- Completed death certificate application form
- Photocopy of your photo ID
- Check or money order payable to the Florida Department of Health
- Self-addressed stamped envelope
Mail requests take 2 to 3 weeks to handle and return. Use certified mail for tracking. The local office recommends mailing at least 4 weeks before any deadline tied to property transfers, insurance payouts, or estate closures.
Online Order Fees Through VitalChek
VitalChek is the only state-approved online vendor. The first copy costs $15 with a $7 processing fee. Extra copies cost $4 each. Standard delivery runs 5 to 7 business days. Rush delivery costs extra. Pay with credit or debit card. VitalChek accepts orders 24 hours a day, which works for people who cannot visit the office during regular business hours.
Historical Records and Archives
Records before 2009 fall under different offices. The state archives and libraries fill the gaps for older obituaries and death registrations across Florida.
State Records Bureau in Jacksonville
The state records bureau in Jacksonville holds Florida death records back to 1877. The office sits at 1217 N Pearl St, Jacksonville, FL 32202. Phone support runs at (904) 359-6900. The bureau charges $5 for a search and first copy. Year-based searches add $2 per year, capped at $50. Rush handling costs $10 more. Shipping adds $1 per order. The Jacksonville office handles every death certificate request that falls outside the local county office time window.
Florida Memory Project
The Florida Memory Project at floridamemory.com offers free access to historical documents, photos, and obituary clippings. The site holds newspaper archives, family papers, and cemetery records from across the state. Search by name, county, or date. No subscription or login is needed. The State Library of Florida runs the project as a free public service for genealogy researchers and family historians.
St Lucie County Library Archives
The St Lucie County Library System runs local history rooms at branches in Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie. The collections hold obituary indexes, funeral programs, cemetery transcriptions, and family files. Library card holders get free access to genealogy databases like Ancestry and HeritageQuest. Staff at the main branch on Melody Lane in Fort Pierce help with local obituary lookups during regular library hours.
Newspapers That Publish Local Obituaries
Local papers run death notices that fill gaps left by death records offices. These notices often list family members, service dates, and cemetery details that the death certificate does not cover.
Fort Pierce Tribune
The Fort Pierce Tribune covered St Lucie County for decades. The paper merged with other outlets over time. Back issues sit on microfilm at the St Lucie County Library and on Newspapers.com. The paper covers obituaries, death notices, and memorial announcements from the 1900s forward. Microfilm rolls at the Fort Pierce library cover 1950 to 2010 with daily editions from the local newsroom.
Other Regional Newspapers
Larger regional papers like the Orlando Sentinel and Miami Herald run obituary sections for their coverage areas. Searching by city name pulls notices for people who lived in or County. Newspaper archives work best for people whose families placed formal paid death notices. The Tampa Bay Times and Sun-Sentinel also carry obituaries for residents who moved to or came from those metro areas during their lifetime.
Genealogy Research Tips
Obituaries only tell part of a family story. Cemetery records, probate files, and church records fill in missing pieces for researchers tracing family lines.
Cemetery Records
Find a Grave and BillionGraves index burial sites across Florida. Each entry lists the full name, birth date, death date, and cemetery location. Photos of headstones often show family members buried nearby. Local cemetery offices in Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie hold plot records that pre-date online indexes. The major local cemeteries include Hillcrest Memorial Park in Fort Pierce and Forest Hills Memorial Park in Palm City, both of which serve St Lucie County families.
Probate and Court Records
The St Lucie County Clerk of Court holds probate files, estate records, and guardianship papers. These records list heirs, property transfers, and debts settled after death. Probate files from the 1900s forward sit in the county courthouse at 201 S Indian River Dr. Older files need a research appointment with the clerk’s office genealogy desk. Probate files often include the original death certificate, will, and final inventory of the estate.
Required Documents and Eligibility
Each request type has different rules. Knowing who qualifies and what papers to bring prevents delays at the counter.
Who Can Request Records
Public death certificates without cause of death are open to any person 18 or older. Florida death certificates with cause of death require a qualifying relationship. Eligible requesters cover the surviving spouse, parents, adult children, adult grandchildren, adult siblings, legal guardians, or any person with a court order or documented estate interest. Funeral directors and attorneys handle cause-of-death requests for active cases. Law enforcement agencies and government offices can also order cause-of-death records for official investigations.
Identification Requirements
Bring a valid government-issued photo ID. Accepted forms cover the following:
- Driver’s license
- State-issued identification card
- Passport
- Military identification card
Mail orders need a clear photocopy of the same ID type. The office rejects applications with missing or expired identification. Expired IDs do not qualify, even if the photo still matches the requester.
Official Contact and Office Hours
Direct contact with the right office saves time. Below are the main channels for St Lucie County death records. Call before visiting to confirm office hours and required documents.
Florida Department of Health Location
The St Lucie County DOH office sits at 5150 NW Milner Drive, Port St. Lucie, FL 34983. Phone: (772) 462-3800. Website: stlucie.floridahealth.gov. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The office closes on state and federal holidays.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Office Name | Florida Department of Health in St Lucie County |
| Street Address | 5150 NW Milner Drive, Port St. Lucie, FL 34983 |
| Phone Number | (772) 462-3800 |
| Official Website | stlucie.floridahealth.gov |
| Office Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM |
| Records Covered | 2009 to present |
The DOH office serves as the main hub for death certificate orders and walk-in requests across the county. Parking is free in the lot outside the Milner Drive entrance. The building is ADA compliant with wheelchair access at the main door.
Mail and Online Request Channels
Mail requests go to the same Milner Drive address with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Online orders go through VitalChek at vitalchek.com. The state records bureau in Jacksonville handles older records at 1217 N Pearl St, Jacksonville, FL 32202, phone (904) 359-6900. The Jacksonville office also accepts fax orders from attorneys and funeral directors for active estate cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are common questions about searching St Lucie County Florida Obituary Records. Each answer covers what residents and researchers ask most often. These answers address record availability, fees, eligibility rules, and search methods across the local, state, and online systems. The questions below also cover older records, accuracy of online databases, and rules about restricted certificates for family history research.
How far back do St Lucie County death records go?
Death records from the St Lucie County DOH office cover 2009 to the present. The state records bureau in Jacksonville holds Florida death records back to 1877, with some gaps in the earliest years. For obituaries from the 1900s, the Florida Memory Project and newspaper archives on Newspapers.com hold scanned images of death notices and memorial announcements from across the state. Funeral home archives in Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie often hold records that pre-date the official county system, with some providers dating back to the 1940s and 1950s. Local church records and cemetery transcriptions fill gaps for deaths before 1900 in the area. Researchers tracing family lines in St Lucie County should check multiple sources across these time periods to build a complete picture of a family member’s death record. No single source holds every entry from every era. The combination of state archives, library collections, and online databases gives the most thorough results for older deaths in the region. Marriage records and military discharge papers can also confirm death dates for people who moved to or from St Lucie County during their lifetime. Researchers should also check federal census records from the death year to confirm the person no longer appears on that year’s count. Census records from 1950, 1940, 1930, 1920, and 1910 are available for free through the National Archives and partner websites.
Can I get a free obituary search for St Lucie County?
Yes. Free search routes for St Lucie County obituaries exist. The Florida Memory Project at floridamemory.com offers free obituary indexes from Florida newspapers, with scanned images and full text. Find a Grave and BillionGraves list free cemetery entries for Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, and surrounding communities, with photos of headstones that often reveal family connections. Local libraries in St Lucie County offer free access to Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest for card holders, which pull from newspaper archives and family trees. Newspapers.com offers a free 7-day trial for first-time users, which covers Fort Pierce Tribune and other regional papers. Paid subscriptions on these platforms range from $10 to $30 per month, with annual plans offering lower monthly costs. The St Lucie County DOH office charges a $5 search fee for death certificates, with no charge for in-person lookups at the genealogy section of the local library. Researchers can combine free searches with paid deep dives to keep costs low while building a complete record. Public records requests through the St Lucie County Clerk of Court also return free results for basic case searches, with small fees for certified copies of probate files and estate documents.
How long does a mail death certificate take?
Mail requests to the St Lucie County DOH office take 2 to 3 weeks to handle and return through the US Postal Service. Rush choices cut this timeline to 5 to 7 business days for an extra $10 fee, with tracking and faster delivery. Online orders through VitalChek ship in 5 to 7 business days for standard delivery to Florida addresses, and longer for out-of-state shipping. Rush shipping through VitalChek adds an extra fee and ships in 2 to 3 business days. Walk-in orders at the Port St. Lucie office on Milner Drive finish the same day in most cases, with the certificate printed while you wait at the counter. Same-day service works best for deaths within the past 12 months. Older records need a manual search through microfiche files at the local office. Plan ahead for estate settlements and insurance claims that need certified copies. Many banks and insurance companies require the original certified copy with the raised seal, which only comes from the DOH office, VitalChek, or state records bureau. Order early to avoid delays in property transfers and final account closures. State-level requests through the Jacksonville bureau take 3 to 4 weeks for mail delivery, with rush handling cutting the timeline for an extra fee.
Obituary vs death notice in Florida
An obituary is a longer article written by family members or funeral home staff. It lists a biography of the deceased, names of surviving family members, details about the service, and memorial donation preferences. A death notice is a paid, short announcement that lists the name, age, date of death, and service times. Newspapers charge by the word for death notices, with prices set by the inch or line of text. Funeral homes write obituaries at no extra cost as part of their arrangement services, then submit them to local papers and websites. Both formats appear in print and online archives, but obituaries carry more family and biographical detail. Death notices run as paid classified ads, while obituaries often run as editorial content with photos. Researchers looking for family connections find obituaries more useful, since they list parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren. Death notices work better for confirming dates of death and service times when biographical detail does not matter. Most online databases tag the two formats separately, so filtering by obituary or death notice improves search results. The same person often has both an obituary in the funeral home section and a death notice in the classified section of the same newspaper, giving researchers two records to cross-check for accuracy.
Who can request cause-of-death certificates?
Only qualified relatives or legal representatives can request a death certificate with cause of death in Florida. Eligible requesters cover a surviving spouse, parent, adult child, adult grandchild, adult sibling, legal guardian, or attorney handling an active estate case. A court order or documented estate interest also qualifies a person to order the restricted version. Requesters must fill out DH Form 1959 to verify the relationship, with supporting documents like a marriage certificate, birth certificate, or court order attached to the application. The St Lucie County DOH office reviews each application before releasing the restricted version, which can take 3 to 5 business days for approval. Funeral directors and attorneys handle cause-of-death requests for active cases on behalf of their clients. Power of attorney documents do not qualify on their own unless they grant specific authority over the deceased’s records. Adopted children qualify if the adoption was finalized before the death. Stepchildren and foster children do not qualify unless they have a court order. Researchers tracing family medical history for health reasons can request cause of death with a notarized statement from a physician confirming the medical necessity.
Are online obituaries accurate for St Lucie?
Yes, major online databases index obituaries from St Lucie County newspapers and funeral homes. Legacy.com aggregates obituaries from funeral homes across the state, with the latest 30 days of notices posted for free and older entries in paid archives. Ancestry.com pulls obituaries from newspapers across Florida, with the Fort Pierce Tribune coverage running back to the early 1900s for some years. Newspapers.com indexes scanned images of Florida papers, with full-text search across the image text. Accuracy depends on the original source. Funeral home obituaries tend to be accurate. Families approve the final text before publication. Newspaper staff-written obituaries follow the same approval process. User-submitted entries on Find a Grave and BillionGraves may have errors in dates or family connections. Volunteers add entries from headstone readings without family review. Cross-checking with the death certificate at the DOH office confirms the exact date of death and place of death. Many researchers use online databases for leads, then order certified copies from the DOH office to confirm dates, full names, and parental details that obituaries sometimes abbreviate or miss. FamilySearch.org offers free obituary indexes for St Lucie County deaths, with linked family trees that help connect multiple generations across county lines.
Can I request old death records in Florida?
Yes. The state records bureau in Jacksonville holds Florida death records back to 1877, which covers deaths in St Lucie County even when the county did not exist as a separate entity. Before 1905, deaths in this region fell under Brevard County records, since St Lucie County formed later. Records older than 50 years fall under public access rules, meaning any person 18 or older can order a copy. For deaths before 2009 in St Lucie County, the Jacksonville state office handles the request. The fee is $5 for the search and first copy, plus $2 per year searched if the exact date is unknown. Older records sometimes have limited details compared to modern certificates. Early death records may list only the name, date, and county, with no cause of death or parent details. Researchers should request full image scans when available, since microfiche copies often show more detail than digital indexes. The Jacksonville office also holds marriage and divorce records that can confirm death dates for spouses who predeceased their partners. For very old deaths before Florida statehood tracking, church and cemetery records may hold the only available details, which requires reaching out to local historical societies and church archives in the area.