Baltimore City had started earlier, in 1875 Current state law allows researchers to obtain death certificates that are over 10 years old from the Maryland State archivs, which has death certificates from 1875 to 1987. See the Fee Schedule . If the date of death is not known and it may have taken place after 1936, concult the Social Security Death Index. For earlier deaths, determine when was the last time the person appeared in the Census . If the person died in one of the counties, it may be necessary to estimate the date of death.
Place of death is important.
An individual may have lived all his or her life in one county or city, but actually died in another county or city. The death certificate is issued in the place where death was actually certified by a physician. Click of Reference and Research, and then on Vital Records. Please note that there is no index for deaths from 1972 to 1987. It is necessary to know the month, year, and county of death.