Dover office for birth and death certificates to close for a while

The office in Kent County where people get certificates for births, deaths and marriages will close temporarily starting in February, so residents may have to change the way they get those documents.

The Office of Vital Statistics at 417 Federal St., Dover, will be closed to the public from Feb. 12 to April 5 while the heating and air conditioning system is being replaced, said Laura Matusheski, Division of Public Health media relations coordinator. The cost of the renovations wasn’t immediately available.

Funeral homes will have designated times to drop off their requests and will be notified by the Office of Vital Statistics.

Other Vital Statistics offices in Delaware

Vital Statistics offices in New Castle and Sussex counties will remain open to provide same-day service requests except for long-form birth certificates, death certificates prior to 2007 and corrections/amendments to vital records.

All Vital Statistics offices have access to all records in the system regardless of where the birth, death or marriage occurred in Delaware.

The address of the New Castle office is 258 Chapman Road, Newark, and for Sussex, 546 S. Bedford St., Georgetown.

Hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except state holidays.

Mail and online options

Residents can also request vital records by mail or through the two authorized online ordering systems, GoCertificates and VitalChek.

By mail, requests must be addressed to: Office of Vital Statistics, Jesse Cooper Building, 417 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901.

Certificates will be mailed to the requester, but the requester must be the registrant’s spouse, child, parent or guardian; otherwise, it may become a legal request that needs further review. Guardians must include approved guardianship paperwork.

Legal requests including corrections and amendments to vital records must be mailed to the Dover office and must include the legal purpose in the attorney template, supporting documentation, valid ID and payment by check or money order. Attorney templates are on the Office of Vital Statistics’ website.

For more information about the Office of Vital Statistics, call 302744-4549 or 302-744-4541, or see the website dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/ dph/ss/vitalstats.html.

Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate and development stories. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.