Bergen County Obituary Records

Bergen County in northeastern New Jersey has 70 municipalities and a long history of record keeping for deaths and estates. The county seat is Hackensack. Obituary and death records here come from the County Clerk, the Surrogate's Court, municipal registrars, and several historical organizations. Bergen County probate records date back to the colonial period. Whether you are tracing a family line or need a certified death certificate, this page covers the offices and resources that hold Bergen County obituary and death records.

Bergen County Clerk Office

The Bergen County Clerk is at One Bergen County Plaza, Room 131, Hackensack, NJ 07601. The phone number is (201) 336-7000. This office files land records, trade name certificates, and other public documents. It does not issue death certificates directly. However, it maintains a list of municipal registrars for all 70 towns in Bergen County. That list tells you exactly which local office to contact for a death certificate from a specific town.

Death certificates in New Jersey are issued at the municipal level. The registrar in the town where a death occurred is the first place to look. Bergen County has towns from Allendale to Wyckoff. Each one has its own registrar. The County Clerk's office can help you figure out which registrar to call if you are not sure where a death took place.

The Bergen County Clerk's website is shown below.

This page links to municipal registrar contact details and other county services relevant to death record searches in Bergen County.

Bergen County Obituary Probate Records

The Bergen County Surrogate's Court sits at 10 Main Street, Room 125, Hackensack, NJ 07601. You can call (201) 336-6400. This court handles all probate matters for Bergen County. When a person dies with a will, the estate goes through probate here. The court file may include the will, letters testamentary, an estate inventory, and sometimes a formal notice of death. Bergen County probate records date back to the colonial era. That makes them one of the oldest continuous record sets in the state.

Probate files are public records. You can visit the court in person to request a file by the name of the deceased. If you know the approximate year of death, that helps staff find the file faster. These records are a strong alternative when a death certificate is missing or hard to get. They confirm the fact of death and often name surviving heirs.

The Bergen County Surrogate's Court page is shown here.

This office processes wills and estate matters for all 70 municipalities in Bergen County.

Note: Probate records and death certificates are held by different offices in Bergen County.

Historical Society Death Records

The Bergen County Historical Society is based at Historic New Bridge Landing in River Edge. This site played a role in the American Revolution and now serves as a center for local history research. The society holds a wide range of materials for death record and obituary research in Bergen County. Their collections include family papers, cemetery records, records from defunct funeral homes, and family Bibles that list births, marriages, and deaths.

Family Bibles are an often overlooked source. Before vital records were kept by the state, families wrote death dates in the front pages of their Bibles. The Historical Society has a number of these. Defunct funeral home records are another key resource. When a funeral home closed, its records sometimes went to the Historical Society. These records list the names of the deceased, dates of death, next of kin, and burial locations. They fill gaps that official records cannot.

The Bergen County Historical Society website is shown below.

Visit this site for information about their research collections and hours at Historic New Bridge Landing.

Bergen County Cemetery Obituary Data

The Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs documents historic cemeteries across the county. They have worked on gravestone transcription projects that record the names, dates, and inscriptions from old burial grounds. These transcriptions are useful when the original stones are worn or damaged. A gravestone may show the date of death, age at death, and sometimes the cause or a brief tribute.

The Bergen County Cultural and Historic Affairs page is shown here.

This division preserves burial site data and historic cemetery records throughout Bergen County.

Bergen County has dozens of historic cemeteries. Some date back to the 1600s. Dutch Reformed church burial grounds in towns like Hackensack, Paramus, and Ridgewood hold some of the oldest graves in New Jersey. The transcription work done by the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs makes these records more accessible to researchers who cannot visit each site in person.

Note: Gravestone transcriptions may contain errors due to weathering of the original stones.

State Death Records for Bergen County

The New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics holds death records from 1951 to the present. This includes all deaths that took place in Bergen County during that period. You can order copies through the genealogical records page or the main ordering site. Certified copies work for legal matters. Genealogy copies work for family research.

The New Jersey State Archives stores older death records on microfilm from 1848 through 1963. Bergen County deaths from that era are in this collection. The Archives also holds records from Palisades Township in Bergen County, covering births, marriages, and deaths from 1892 to 1915. This specific set of township records can help fill gaps for families with roots in that part of the county.

The New Jersey Death Index is a free tool to search for deaths by name, date, or county. It provides a reference number you can use to order the full record. Start here if you want a quick check before ordering a certificate.

Bergen County Obituary Search Steps

There are many paths to find a death record in Bergen County. The right path depends on when the death occurred and what kind of record you need. Here is a simple approach that works for most searches.

• Search the New Jersey Death Index by name and date
• Contact the municipal registrar in the town where the death occurred
• Check the Surrogate's Court for probate and estate records
• Visit the Bergen County Historical Society for older records and family papers
• Use the State Archives for deaths between 1848 and 1963
• Look at cemetery transcriptions from the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs

For recent deaths, the municipal registrar is the fastest route. For older deaths, the State Archives and Historical Society have the deepest collections. Newspaper obituaries from Bergen County ran in papers like The Record and The Bergen Evening Record. Local libraries may have these on microfilm or in digital archives.

Bergen County Municipal Death Records

Bergen County has more municipalities than any other county in New Jersey. That means death records are spread across 70 different registrar offices. Towns like Hackensack, Fort Lee, Teaneck, Englewood, and Paramus each maintain their own records. If you are searching for a death that happened in Bergen County but do not know the exact town, start with the death index. It will show the municipality. Then you can contact that town's registrar for the actual certificate.

Some smaller towns have limited office hours. Call ahead before visiting. The Bergen County Clerk's website has a full list of registrar phone numbers and addresses. This can save you a trip to the wrong office. For deaths in hospitals, the registrar is based on the town where the hospital sits, not where the person lived.

Note: Death certificates list the place of death, not the person's home address.

Nearby Counties

These neighboring counties may also hold relevant death records and obituary notices for your research.