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Every Document a Claim Needs, Free — Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and the Discharge

Four separate Mississippi provisions make claim documents free. Vital Statistics furnishes birth and death certificates without charge where they are needed to establish a dependency, disability or survivor claim; the chancery and circuit clerks do the same for marriage licences, divorce decrees, adoption decrees and any other record; the chancery clerk records discharges at no cost and furnishes certified copies free; and on a veteran’s death the vital records office furnishes up to five certified death certificates and one birth certificate without charge.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Four separate Mississippi provisions make claim documents free. Vital Statistics furnishes birth and death certificates without charge where they are needed to establish a dependency, disability or survivor claim; the chancery and circuit clerks do the same for marriage licences, divorce decrees, adoption decrees and any other record; the chancery clerk records discharges at no cost and furnishes certified copies free; and on a veteran’s death the vital records office furnishes up to five certified death certificates and one birth certificate without charge.

What it's worth: Birth, death, marriage, divorce and adoption records free for a claim; five death certificates free after a veteran dies

  • No single figure applies because four different offices are involved and Mississippi record fees differ by office and record type.
  • The five free death certificates on a veteran’s death are stated to be IN ADDITION to any furnished free under §35-3-9, so the two provisions stack rather than compete.

Who is entitled to it

  • The provisions name veterans who are legal residents of Mississippi "or their claimants", which reaches the family pursuing the claim.
  • You are 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

  1. 1Say the record is for a VA claim. All four provisions are purpose-tested — records "needed to establish claims for dependency, disability, or survivors benefits" — so an unexplained request is charged the ordinary fee.
  2. 2Split the errand by office. Birth and death certificates come from the Bureau of Vital Statistics; marriage licences, divorce decrees, adoption decrees and any other court record come from the chancery and circuit clerks.
  3. 3Record the discharge with the chancery clerk. The clerk shall record, without cost whatsoever, all honorable discharges and certificates of service of members of the armed forces residing in the same county — and certified copies are furnished free to the soldier, sailor, marine, coast guardsman or nurse.
  4. 4After a death, ask for the full allocation: up to five certified copies of the death certificate and one birth certificate of a deceased honorably discharged veteran, or one who was killed or died on active duty, without charge to any person or entity authorised to receive them.
  5. 5Bring written evidence of the deceased’s service. The vital records office requires it before the free copies are issued.
  6. 6Anyone enlisting has their own route: the Bureau of Vital Statistics furnishes a certified copy of a birth certificate at no expense and immediately on application to a person volunteering for service.
  7. 7A county veterans service officer knows which of the four provisions applies to your document and can ask for it in the right terms.
Form
Ask each office for the record on the veteran-claim basis
File with
Mississippi State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics; and the chancery and circuit clerks
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionMississippi is usually listed as giving veterans free birth certificates. That undersells it badly. Marriage licences, divorce decrees, adoption decrees and "any and all other records" held by the chancery and circuit clerks are free on the same claim basis under §35-3-11 — which is often the harder document to get in a survivor claim.
Worth knowingThe death-certificate allocation under §41-57-26 runs to "any person or entity that is authorized to receive death certificates", not only to next of kin. A funeral home or a service organisation handling the estate can draw on it.
Known gapThe statutory text itself could not be read: no free official Mississippi Code server responded this session (law.msleg.ms.gov does not resolve, and the official code is published commercially). Everything here comes from the administering department’s own benefit book, which prints the section numbers against each provision. Confirm the exact wording with the clerk if a request is refused.

Sources

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