Indiana · 92 counties
When someone dies in Indiana
Two things matter first: getting certified death certificates, and, if money is short, reaching the burial assistance program in the county where the death happened. Pick your county below for exact contacts.
The paperwork
Death certificates in Indiana
Certified copies come from the Indiana Department of Health, Division of Vital Records, or the local health department where the death occurred (official site).
The state is cheap but slow, and the county is the opposite. The state charges $8 for the first copy and $4 for each additional one, but average processing is about 45 business days. Local health departments issue them much faster at county-set prices, commonly $10 to $20 each. If you need copies to settle accounts, go local. Phone orders run through 866-601-0891, 24 hours a day. ID is required by rule 410 IAC 18-4-2 and requests without it are returned unprocessed.
Planning ahead
Nobody has died yet? Set up a power of attorney
If someone you love is aging or ill, the cheapest protection your family can get is a power of attorney, and it must happen while they can still sign. We cover Indiana's exact rules and official forms.
Indiana power of attorney rulesIf money is tight
Statewide burial assistance
Indiana runs a statewide Burial Assistance Program through the FSSA Division of Family Resources to help pay funeral and burial costs, but it only applies if the deceased person was enrolled in specific Medicaid categories such as Aged, Blind, or Disabled at the time of death. The funeral home or cemetery, not the family, must contact the state to check eligibility and file the claim, so families should ask their chosen funeral home about this program before finalizing arrangements. Approved funds are paid directly to the funeral home or cemetery and the state does not reimburse family members directly.
Pick your county
Indiana counties (92)
Adams CountyAllen CountyBartholomew CountyBenton CountyBlackford CountyBoone CountyBrown CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyClark CountyClay CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDaviess CountyDeKalb CountyDearborn CountyDecatur CountyDelaware CountyDubois CountyElkhart CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFountain CountyFranklin CountyFulton CountyGibson CountyGrant CountyGreene CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHarrison CountyHendricks CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHuntington CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJay CountyJefferson CountyJennings CountyJohnson CountyKnox CountyKosciusko CountyLaGrange CountyLaPorte CountyLake CountyLawrence CountyMadison CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMartin CountyMiami CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMorgan CountyNewton CountyNoble CountyOhio CountyOrange CountyOwen CountyParke CountyPerry CountyPike CountyPorter CountyPosey CountyPulaski CountyPutnam CountyRandolph CountyRipley CountyRush CountyScott CountyShelby CountySpencer CountySt. Joseph CountyStarke CountySteuben CountySullivan CountySwitzerland CountyTippecanoe CountyTipton CountyUnion CountyVanderburgh CountyVermillion CountyVigo CountyWabash CountyWarren CountyWarrick CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWells CountyWhite CountyWhitley County