licenses & feesstate

One Free Birth or Death Certificate for a Veteran — the Form Nobody Knows About

The health department publishes a single-page form, VR-40, that lets a veteran or a named relative ask for a free copy of a birth OR a death certificate. The form cites the code section on its face. The ordinary charge is $10 for a first death certificate and $12 for a first birth certificate.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: One certificate at no charge — $12 for a first birth copy, $10 for a first death copy otherwise

The health department publishes the ordinary fees as $12 for a first birth record and $10 for each additional copy, and $10 for a first death record and $8 for each additional copy.
Ordering online adds a $5 standard processing fee and a $1.85 identity verification fee on top of the certificate price.
The form is headed as a request for a free copy and lets the requester tick either birth or death — it is not a death-certificate-only benefit.
The form states the free copy goes to one of a listed set of persons; the full list was not legible in the copy read this session.

Who is entitled to it

The form is drawn for the veteran or for a named relative.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Download form VR-40 from the health department’s death records page and tick whether you want the birth or the death certificate.
2Send a completed ordinary birth or death certificate application with it. The form states plainly that the free-copy request does not stand alone.
3Do not order through the online vendor if you are claiming the free copy — the online route adds a processing fee and an identity verification fee that the waiver does not touch.
4Ask the vital records office which of the listed relatives you fall under before sending, and keep the veteran’s discharge paperwork to hand.

Form: VR-40 — Request for a Veteran’s Free Copy of a Certificate
File with: Health department, Vital Records
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThis is not a death-certificate benefit. The form has a tick box for BIRTH and a tick box for DEATH, and the code section it cites is the same for both — which is the opposite of how neighbouring states in this corpus write the same relief.

Worth knowingThe saving is small in cash and large in friction. It is one certificate, worth $10 or $12, but the copy that a claim actually turns on is usually the one nobody wants to pay for twice.

Known gapThe form names a closed list of persons who may receive the free copy. The extracted text of the form was legible enough to establish the code citation, the birth-or-death choice and the accompanying-application rule, but not the full list of eligible persons. The statute itself could not be read — the legislature host refuses this project’s tools.

Sources

authority · formHealth department form VR-40 (R 8/11), quoting Ark. Code §20-18-306(a)(2)(A) on its face
operating · published policyHealth department — Order Death Records, fee schedule and the veteran free-copy form

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.