If You Need Certified Copies of Birth Certificates, Death Certificates

[MineralMan]

or any other official documents of that type, here is a link that will get them for you, without any risk of compromising your privacy:

https://www.vitalchek.com/

Here's the disclaimer at the bottom of the site's page:

Keeping your data safe: Why authorized matters when ordering vital records

Marriage, death, divorce and birth records mark major events in a person’s life, and are used as essential identity documents. If they are allowed to fall into the wrong hands, identity theft can all too easily happen. VitalChek is the ONLY external authorized online ordering agent for government vital records agencies across the nation. This means your data is securely handled by only two parties - VitalChek and the government agency issuing your requested certificate. When you order birth certificates and other vital records from VitalChek, we'll verify your request and any required documentation before we securely submit your sensitive information through our direct digital portal to the correct government agency to prepare and ship your document. This transmission is fully encrypted and firewall-protected to meet or exceed all U.S. Department of Commerce standards for transmission and storage of sensitive data, passing the most rigorous security tests available.

There are a number of websites that claim to be able to get those documents. This one is safe, very fast, and charges you only slightly more than the fee charged by the government agency that holds the records.

This is, by far, the fastest way to get the records you need.

The company is "A Lexus/Nexus Risk Solutions Company"

Disclaimer: I have no association with that website. I have used it recently several times to obtain vital records lately from jurisdictions all over the country. There's no faster way. Many jurisdictions will direct you to this website if you request records.

[Wounded Bear]

1. K&R...and thanks!

I've been needing to get some vital records to update my driver's license.

I'll look into it.

[MineralMan]

2. Works great, and it's fast, besides.

I was very surprised. My wife and I discovered that we had never received an official copy of our marriage certificate. We needed a copy for a legal matter. Instead of contacting the county where we were married, I used that link. Four days later, the certificate was at our door.

Later, I checked, and the county has a link to VitalChek on its website for people to use to get documents.

One suggestion: Fill out the request form completely. You might have to do some Google research in some cases to identify the jurisdiction.

[OriginalGeek]

3. That's the site that is listed on my state's website

We have a number of .gov sites and I recently had cause to look up where i could get a copy of my daughter's birth certificate. There were some inconveniently located physical buildings with limited hours I could go stand in line at or just get them from Vitalcheck. I started the process of ordering the BC and got to the shipping. It was 17 dollars over and above the regular fees for UPS and they never presented me with a lower cost option so I had to call them to cancel the order (They already had my credit card info at that point).

Maybe I did something wrong in the initial process but I just followed the prompts and answered the questions and ended up with them wanting almost double the cost of just going downtown so I will just be going downtown.

But the point stands that they are the authorized source to get your records from if you don;t want to go stand in line at a government office and I would assume it is safe.

[MineralMan]

5. Yes. There is a shipping charge.

They ship VIA UPS Overnight.

As for that cost - How much is your time worth? And, what if the records you need are not in the area where you live?

I can tell you from experience that going to the government agency to get your document will take more than an hour. None of the records I have recently needed were located closer than 2000 miles from where I live. So...

[OriginalGeek]

9. All good points however

I can eat with 17 dollars. I can't eat with time.

Luckily (or not, depending, lol) we still live in the same county where my wife and daughter were born (and at least the same state for me) so it's not too bad a drive.

And I have conveniently been called for Jury duty in 2 weeks (assuming my group is picked) and it is in the same building I can get records from so I'll just wait since I may have to go there anyway.

[FakeNoose]

4. Also contact the Bureau of Vital Records at individual state capitals

This requires a little bit of googling, but we're smart people.

I was able to contact the Bureau of Records in Jefferson City, Missouri. I told them my birth name, birthdate, city and name of hospital (had to guess) and also my parents' names and birthdates. It must have been enough information because I received a certified copy of my birth certificate in the mail a few weeks later. I can't remember but it might have been free, or it might have been $10. Of course the fees are probably higher now.

[MineralMan]

6. A "few weeks" later can be too long, by far.

VitalChek will get them to you within a week.

[FakeNoose]

8. Yes however at the time I wasn't in a hurry

I needed to apply for a US passport and I had almost 6 months to get it.
Most likely there's a speedier service that's much faster, but also not free.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. My 2 cents

I think you can order public records direct from the government agency that issued them. I've done a few of these for genealogy purposes. My results vary. All claim to look for public records, and it seems all do. The question is how deeply do they look, and do they have, or are they empowered to use, the thinking skills required to do an intensive search without looking for hours. I say this because one government department had their hands on the record in 2 minutes. They were very good. But ordering through the state gave you no indication if they had the records anywhere in the state or not. And the price went from about $12 2003 to $24 I think it was today. But Social Security records were $3 1998, now they're more than $30.

The other entity I ordered from claimed they didn't know they had the record, despite being given the name, three year approximate date, place of record event. Nope, not here. Then I checked more online, and found a reference to an alteration of 2 letters in the last name, and an exact record number. Presented with this, they coughed it up pronto. But if I didn't have the record number, they wanted more fees to search further even though it was right under their nose and nearly an exact match. I suspect that government office was padding its take on vital records.

So like everything else, caveat emptor. Do your own due diligence and then some, it can save you time and money.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes, you can get them from the agency itself.

That can be complicated, though, and take a lot of time. VitalChek knows exactly what information is needed for all jurisdictions and will ask for that information. If it can't get the record for some reason, they'll let you know and not charge you.

For most people, getting such records is a need that requires fast delivery. Often, it also involved pressing issues that also take a lot of time to accomplish. Simplifying the process is often something that is worth paying a few extra dollars. I've used that website several times in dealing with an estate issue. Every delay causes future delays, so speed can be very important.

For genealogical needs, time is not so much of a factor. For legal needs, it almost always is.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. In NJ, Birth you contact the State Dept of Vital Records directly. Death Certs the County Clerk.

.

No 3rd party sites are recommended.

Larger cities these can be obtained directly by their Vital Records Depts.

.

[MineralMan]

15. Interesting. I hadn't looked for anything in NJ.

I suppose a place like VitalChek would let you know if they can't handle the request.

[TheBlackAdder]

18. VitalCheck seems more like an intermediary facilitator.

.

With sensitive records, I would prefer dealing with the state or county agency directly.

.

[MineralMan]

19. The County Recorder in San Luis Obispo County, CA

has a direct link to VitalChek on it's pages and says, "To order records, click this link."

I think they prefer people to do that to prevent dealing with request forms, etc. I have dealt with that county recorder's office in person and by phone in the past. It is much easier to do it online via VitalChek.

I suppose that varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

[Beastly Boy]

12. Thank you! By any chance, do you know how to get a certified copy of a real property deed?

[TheBlackAdder]

13. Check with your county clerk's office if they will furnish a certified copy or online w/a watermark.

[csziggy]

17. It depends on the county

Many counties have most of their deeds in digital format, most have them at least indexed. But up here in the Florida Panhandle, there are small counties with no computer records for information online.

I've done genealogical research in some of those counties - you have to go into the county clerk's office, into their archives, and look up deeds in their old deed books. Sometimes those are not indexed so you have to go through them page by page to look for the deed you want. If you are lucky and have the date when the deed was transferred, that helps a lot.

[MineralMan]

14. Sorry, but I don't. I think you would have to contact

the County Recorder in whatever County and State the property is located.

I don't know of any other way for that particular document.

[jmbar2]

16. Really good to know

My stimulus money is lost in bureaucracy right now because I moved since last year's tax return. My first two stims were by direct deposit, so I assumed the third would be as well. But NO. They mailed it to my last address, it was marked as not forwardable, and returned to IRS.

I sent a change of address form to IRS to get the ball rolling to reroute the check, but thought at the time that it was too easy to do this. Could result in misdirected stim payments if abused. Making a note of this. Thanks.

[Hekate]

20. Bookmarking!