Vital Records: Birth, Death, Marriage & Divorce Certificates

The state you want is probably the state where the event happened, not where the person lives now. Jump to the records type you need, or scroll to the state grid.

• Birth CertificatesHow to order a certified copy from the state where you were born
• Death CertificatesWho can order, what you'll need, and what the certificate actually contains
• Marriage RecordsWhere marriage licenses are filed, often at the county, not the state
• Divorce DecreesWhy the final decree lives with the court, not the vital records office
• Certified vs InformationalThe difference matters more than most people realize
• Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat to do if you were born abroad, or if your birth wasn't registered

A "vital record" is a government certificate documenting one of four life events: birth, death, marriage, or divorce. The term is narrow on purpose. Hospital birth records, obituaries, and church marriage registers are not vital records, they may be evidence about a vital event, but the legal certificate is the one filed with the government registrar at the time the event was reported.

Every state has registered births since 1933 at the latest, when the last states joined the federal birth registration area begun in 1915, though some states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island) have continuous registration dating to the 1840s and earlier. Before a state's registration law, the best you can hope for is a church baptism record or an 1850 to 1880 census line.

The federal position, in writing: "The Federal Government does not maintain files or indexes of these records. These records are filed permanently in a State vital statistics office or in a city, county, or other local office." CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Application Guidelines.

A certified birth certificate is the single most powerful identity document most Americans own. The Social Security Administration treats it as primary evidence of identity and age, and every state DMV uses it for REAL ID. That importance explains why states have tightened access over the past two decades.

Who can order a certified copy

Most states limit certified copies to the registrant (the person named on the certificate) once they turn 18, the registrant's parents, their spouse, adult children, siblings, and legal representatives acting for them. A few states (California is the clearest example) distinguish between an "authorized" copy, valid for identity, and an "informational" copy marked Informational, Not a Valid Document to Establish Identity. Genealogists usually want informational copies; they're cheaper and anyone can order them.

What you'll need to provide

CDC guidance is consistent across all 50 states: you must supply the full name on the record, date and place of birth (city or town, county, state, and hospital if known), both parents' names including the mother's maiden name, your relationship to the person named, your daytime phone number, and the purpose of the request. Most states also require a photocopy of your government-issued photo ID.

What it actually costs

Fees range from $9 (Florida) to $34 (Michigan) for a state birth certificate, per the CDC Where to Write pages. Online ordering through VitalChek, which most state offices authorize as their online processor, adds a service fee on top of the state fee, plus optional UPS shipping. Several counties saw fee increases take effect in 2026 after holding costs flat since 2018.

If you lost every form of ID

USA.gov has a specific playbook for this: contact your birth state's vital records office and ask what alternate identity proof it accepts. Most states will take a sworn statement of identity, or a notarized letter from a parent listed on your birth certificate along with a copy of their photo ID. USA.gov also recommends trying to replace your driver's license first if possible, since a DMV-issued ID will unlock birth certificate ordering in most states.

A death certificate serves two very different purposes. In the short term it is the document that unlocks every post-death administrative action: closing bank accounts, filing life insurance claims, transferring property, probating a will. In the long term it becomes a genealogical record that often outlives every other piece of evidence about the deceased person.

What it contains

Modern U.S. death certificates follow the U.S. Standard Certificate of Death, a format maintained by the CDC's National Vital Statistics System. It records the decedent's legal name, date and place of death, date of birth, Social Security number, occupation, marital status, parents' names, informant (usually a next-of-kin), attending physician or medical examiner, immediate cause of death, and underlying causes. Genealogists value the parents' names line, it's often the only place those facts were ever written down for someone born in the late 1800s.

Who can order

Rules are generally more relaxed than for birth certificates. Immediate family, adult descendants, estate executors, and funeral directors can order certified copies in every state. Many states release informational copies to the general public after 25 to 50 years.

Marriage records confuse people more than any other vital record, and the confusion is legitimate: the filing location depends on the state. Some states (Hawaii, Idaho, Rhode Island) register marriages centrally at the state office. Most states file the license and certificate at the county clerk's office in the county where the license was issued, the state vital records office holds an index and sometimes a duplicate, but the original is at the county.

If you need a certified marriage certificate for a passport or visa application, check both: call the state office first, and if they don't hold it they'll tell you which county does. Illinois is a common example: the state health department charges $5 to verify a marriage in its index, but the certificate itself comes from the county clerk.

The final divorce decree is a court document, not a vital record in the narrow sense. The vital records office will give you a certificate of divorce (sometimes called a divorce certificate or divorce verification) that records the basic facts: full names of husband and wife, date of divorce or annulment, place of divorce, and type of final decree. That's what the CDC guidance anticipates you'll request when you write to the state.

If you need the actual decree, the signed court order with property division, custody terms, and alimony schedule, you must go to the clerk of the court that issued it. The state vital records office does not hold that document. This matters most often in estate settlement and second-marriage cases where proof of the first marriage's dissolution is required.

The same raw data, names, dates, places, parents, appears on both copy types. The difference is the legal effect and the paper it's printed on.

The one exception worth knowing: a handful of states (California is the notable one) don't use the terms "certified" and "informational." They use authorized (identity-grade) and informational. The paper and content are the same, only the legal use differs.

Three paths:

1. Walk-in at the county clerk

Fastest. If the record is on file locally (most marriages and many older births), you can often walk out with a certified copy the same day. Bring a photo ID and the correct fee in check or money order, the CDC's guidance says not to send cash, and most counter clerks won't take it either.

2. Mail to the state vital records office

Standard path. Average turnaround is 4 to 8 weeks depending on the state. Your request letter needs: the full name on the record, date and place of the event, both parents' names (for birth or death), purpose of the request, your relationship, a daytime phone number, a photocopy of your ID, and a check or money order to the office named in the state's current fee schedule. The CDC guidelines page is the canonical source for the information the office expects.

3. Online through VitalChek

Most convenient, at a higher cost. VitalChek is authorized by most state vital records offices as their online ordering partner. You'll pay the state fee plus a $7 to $15 VitalChek service charge, plus optional UPS shipping ($20 to $45). Processing time per VitalChek's own disclosure: 5 to 15 business days after the state approves your request. Premium express services (48 to 72 hours) are available in select states for an additional fee.

Fee rule of thumb: Fees are set by each state and change. The CDC includes a phone number for each state's office precisely so you can verify the current fee before sending a check for the wrong amount. Always verify before mailing.

U.S. citizens born outside the country get a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, form FS-240) rather than a state-issued birth certificate, provided their parents reported the birth to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate at the time. Per USA.gov, the CRBA serves the same legal purpose as a U.S. birth certificate.

To replace a lost or damaged CRBA, contact the U.S. Department of State's Vital Records Section, not the vital records office of the state where you currently live. The state office has no record of your birth because the event wasn't registered there.

Delayed birth registration is a formal process in every state for people whose births were never officially recorded, most often people born at home before their state's registration law took effect, or born in rural areas where the attending physician failed to file. You file a petition with the state vital records office (or sometimes the local court) along with secondary evidence: a hospital record, a religious record established before age 5, an early census entry, a school enrollment record, a family Bible entry with a dated inscription.

The Social Security Administration accepts several of these same documents as alternate proof of age and identity when it issues or replaces Social Security cards. Per the SSA's guidance on required documents, a "U.S. hospital record of birth" or a "religious record established before age 5 showing age or date of birth" will substitute for a birth certificate in their process. That overlap is useful because it means the documents you already have to collect for a delayed registration will also work for SSA.

For family history work older than your own lifetime, vital records and federal census records are the two legs of the stool. Births and deaths give you dates; the census gives you snapshots of households and relationships.

The National Archives (NARA) holds federal population census schedules from 1790 through 1950. The 1950 census was released on April 1, 2022. The next release, the 1960 census, will come in April 2032, because of the 72-year restriction on access to U.S. census data.

A productive research path: use census records to find probable birth years and locations for an ancestor, then order the actual birth certificate (or a delayed one) from that state's vital records office. Researchers often find that a 1900 census line saying "born March 1870, Ohio" is enough to request the right birth record, even when no one in the family can remember exactly where their grandfather was born.

Research tip: The CDC's National Vital Statistics System publishes aggregated vital statistics data, births, deaths, marriages, life expectancy, fetal deaths, for academic research. Individual records are still held at the state level. If you want the statistics, read NVSS. If you want the certificate, write to the state.

Everything on this page cross-references official government sources. If you're writing about vital records or advising someone, these are the pages worth bookmarking:

• CDC, Where to Write for Vital RecordsEvery state vital records office, with fees and addresses
• CDC, application guidelinesWhat to include when you write to a state office
• USA.gov, how to get a birth certificateFederal guide to ordering a U.S. birth certificate
• Social Security, documents you need for a cardWhat SSA accepts to issue or replace a Social Security card
• National Archives, census recordsPopulation schedules 1790 to 1950, opened after 72 years
• NCHS, National Vital Statistics SystemNational data on births, deaths, marriages and life expectancy
• U.S. Department of State, records of Americans born abroadConsular Reports of Birth Abroad and how to request copies

Vital records are rarely the only record type you need. These companion guides on PublicRecordCenter.com pair naturally with a vital records search:

• People Search GuideLocate individuals using public records
• Genealogy SearchAncestry, census & family history
• Judgments & LiensCivil court cases & estate debts
• Credit Report CheckConsumer reports & identity monitoring
• All Public RecordsState, county & city directories

Every state runs its own vital records office. Fees, forms, and eligibility rules change state by state, so click yours for the current official process.