Iowa · 99 counties
When someone dies in Iowa
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 Iowa
Certified copies come from the Iowa county recorder offices, which serve as local registrars, or the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Vital Records (official site).
Iowa gives you a useful option: you can order from the county of RESIDENCE or the county where the death occurred, so pick whichever is closer. Local registrars sit inside county recorder offices. Certified copies are $20 each as of the July 1, 2026 increase, and some county pages still show the old $15, so bring the higher amount. Ordering by mail requires a NOTARIZED application plus a photocopy of your ID. VitalChek online orders add a fee starting around $14 per order.
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 Iowa's exact rules and official forms.
Iowa power of attorney rulesIf money is tight
Statewide burial assistance
Iowa HHS runs a state-funded program called State Supplementary Assistance that helps pay a deceased person's funeral costs if that person was receiving State Supplementary Assistance or SSI benefits at the time of death. Under Iowa Code section 249.9 the department pays up to four hundred dollars toward funeral expenses, minus any life insurance, Social Security, veterans, or similar death benefits the estate is entitled to, and only if the estate does not have enough money to cover the funeral itself. The application for this burial benefit must be filed with the local HHS office within fifteen calendar days of the date of death, so families should contact HHS and apply before finalizing all details with a funeral home.
Pick your county
Iowa counties (99)
Adair CountyAdams CountyAllamakee CountyAppanoose CountyAudubon CountyBenton CountyBlack Hawk CountyBoone CountyBremer CountyBuchanan CountyBuena Vista CountyButler CountyCalhoun CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyCedar CountyCerro Gordo CountyCherokee CountyChickasaw CountyClarke CountyClay CountyClayton CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDallas CountyDavis CountyDecatur CountyDelaware CountyDes Moines CountyDickinson CountyDubuque CountyEmmet CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFranklin CountyFremont CountyGreene CountyGrundy CountyGuthrie CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHardin CountyHarrison CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHumboldt CountyIda CountyIowa CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJefferson CountyJohnson CountyJones CountyKeokuk CountyKossuth CountyLee CountyLinn CountyLouisa CountyLucas CountyLyon CountyMadison CountyMahaska CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMills CountyMitchell CountyMonona CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMuscatine CountyO'Brien CountyOsceola CountyPage CountyPalo Alto CountyPlymouth CountyPocahontas CountyPolk CountyPottawattamie CountyPoweshiek CountyRinggold CountySac CountyScott CountyShelby CountySioux CountyStory CountyTama CountyTaylor CountyUnion CountyVan Buren CountyWapello CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWebster CountyWinnebago CountyWinneshiek CountyWoodbury CountyWorth CountyWright County