You have two options for Death Certificates. #1 You can request the from New York State. This will provide you with a photocopy of the original certificate. A mail in request takes about 6 months or so. The price is $22. Look at the following website for more information. http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/vr.htm #2. You can request the Certificate from Onondaga County. You will get a transcribed piece of paper. This is typed by someone in the office and the information may not all be included, or it may not be spelled the same as the original. The turn aroudn is generally quicker. The price is $22. Look at the following website for more informaiton. http://http://www.ongov.net/Clerk/faqs.html It takes longer, but i prefer to get the photocopies of the original certificate. Next you mentioned ordering a Will. Onondaga County has a number of them for free online. I will give you the website for you to register for an account, then they will send you a second website to use to access the actual records. If you are lucky, they will have your record online. They are still adding more records. This has only been online for a short time. http://surrogate5th.courts.state.ny.us/public/ Hope this helps. Anne Ruggeri Brewerton, NY

Hello, Anne, and others, The wait for a NYS vital records certificate need not take six months or more if you have a person in the Albany area do the legwork for you. A couple of weeks is more like it. Nancy Johnsen Curran The Continuum Genealogy research and photography in the capital region of New York State http://pages.prodigy.net/nancycurran