Certified copies of death certificates prepared using MD-EDRS will be available as soon as they are registered by the Division of Vital Records. This will normally be the next business day following submission of the record, unless errors are identified. The status of the record is available in MD-EDRS; the instructional manuals contain information on how to check the status of a record to determine whether it has been numbered. As soon as the record has been numbered, certified copies will be available for issuance at the Division of Vital Records. Local Health Departments will begin issuing certified copies of MD-EDRS records in early to mid-January, so please contact the LHD in your area to confirm that certified copies of MD-EDRS records are available for issuance. As a reminder, only records for deaths occurring in 2015 or later will be prepared in MD-EDRS. These changes will not apply to 2014 records.