Louisiana, vital records
The Louisiana Department of Health, Center for Vital Records and Statistics, issues birth, death and fetal death records and Orleans Parish marriage records. Other marriages and all divorce decrees are with the parish clerk of court.
Start here
Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
Vital records
The Office of the State Registrar, which issues Louisiana birth, death and fetal death records and Orleans Parish marriage records to people entitled to them.
Open official site Louisiana Center for Vital Records and StatisticsVital records
Who is legally entitled to a Louisiana birth record and what anyone else needs, such as a judgment of custody for a child's record, under disclosure law R.S. 40:41.
Open official site How to order Louisiana birth recordsVital records
Who may order a Louisiana death record, from close family to estate and legal agents, and the documents each must show under the state disclosure law.
Open official site How to order Louisiana death recordsVital records
The state registry issues Orleans Parish marriage certificates and licenses and keeps those records for 50 years. Divorce decrees come from the parish clerk of court.
Open official site Louisiana marriage certificates and licensesVital records
The Archives orders copies of Louisiana birth records more than 100 years old and death records more than 50 years old; certified death copies are $10 by mail.
Open official site Louisiana State Archives, vital records indexVital records
Department of Health answers on Louisiana records. Marriage licenses bought outside Orleans Parish and all divorce decrees come from the clerk of court in that parish.
Open official site Louisiana vital records questionsVital records
The law that creates the central vital records registry in the Office of Public Health and sets the authority and duties of the state registrar.
Open official site Louisiana R.S. 40:33, vital records registryVital records
The law listing the certificate forms the state registrar prescribes, including birth and death certificates and paternity acknowledgment affidavits.
Open official site Louisiana R.S. 40:34, vital records formsVital records
National Center for Health Statistics links to every state and territory vital records office, with fees and mailing addresses. The federal government itself issues no certificates.
Open official site CDC, Where to Write for Vital RecordsVital records
National Center for Health Statistics data on births and deaths in the United States, such as leading causes of death and life tables. It publishes statistics, not copies of records.
Open official site CDC, National Vital Statistics SystemVital records
Secretary of State search of the historical index: statewide births over 100 years old, deaths over 50 years old and Orleans Parish marriages over 50 years old.
Open official site Louisiana State Archives, vital records searchFederal
Social Security Administration form to apply for an original or replacement card or to correct your record. It generally asks for your birth certificate as proof of age.
Open official site SSA, Form SS-5, Social Security card applicationGuide
Louisiana issues no divorce certificate. The Louisiana Vital Records Registry states that it cannot issue a certified copy of a divorce decree; a certified copy of the decree is obtained by contacting the Clerk of Court in the parish where the divorce was granted. For every purpose, from proving the divorce to reading the property partition, the parish clerk is the only source. The Registry's statement is at ldh.la.gov.
Guide
Record guide
At a glance
More Louisiana records on this site: Louisiana public records, Free Background Checks.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
No. The CDC is explicit: 'The Federal Government does not maintain files or indexes of these records.' Every U.S. vital record is kept by the state where the event occurred.
A certified copy has a raised seal and is accepted by SSA, passport offices, and courts. An informational copy is marked 'Informational, Not a Valid Document to Establish Identity' and cannot be used for legal ID.
It varies by state, but a mail order to a state vital records office is typically 4, 8 weeks. Walk-in county clerk requests can be same-day. Online orders through VitalChek add a separate processing time on top of the state's.
Most states limit certified copies to the registrant, immediate family, and legal representatives. Informational copies are generally available to anyone after a waiting period defined by state law.
You should have a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, form FS-240). Replacements come from the U.S. Department of State, not from a state vital records office.
All states
Every state page lists that state's official vital record sources, each opened and verified.