Susanne, I had the same problem when I sent for my mothers birth certificate and since notarizing in my state costs $20.00 it added quite an expense to ordering many certs from MN. I called and found out that you only have to have it notarized if you are requesting a CERTIFIED copy of the birth certificate. If you need the birth certificate for any legal reasons it would need to be certified, otherwise send the form they sent you back in telling them you are requesting a NON-CERTIFIED death certificate. Gayle