If you need a certified copy of a birth or death certificate from another state, how do you know where to write?
You have several options:- Visit or call your county health department and refer to its copy of "Where To Write For Vital Records." The booklet contains addresses and phone numbers of vital statistics offices in all the states and Canada. It also lists fees.
- The booklet is also available for reference at the Utah Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, 288 N. 1460 W. in Salt Lake City. The booklet is published by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- You can get your own copy of "Where To Write For Vital Records" by sending a request along with your name and address and a check for $1.75 to Superintendent of Documents, GPO (that stands for Government Printing Office), Washington, D.C. 20402.
- You might try public libraries, too. The main branch of the Salt Lake City Library has as reference a booklet called "International Vital Records."
The Utah Vital Records office has original birth and death records for the entire state beginning in 1905. It has marriage and divorce records from 1978 on. Certified copies of these records are also available from county health departments.
The Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 35 N. West Temple has copies of records from 150 countries. The library is open Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tues.-Fri. from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Sundays and major holidays. It, too, has listings of vital statistics offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The reason we bring up the subject of vital records is we received a press release from a non-profit organization in New Jersey called Consumer Education Research Center. For $6.50 it will send you its version of "Where To Write For Vital Records."
The booklet has a state-by-state list of addresses and telephone numbers where each record can be found, the fee and sample form letters containing all the information needed to get copies of vital documents. It also lists foreign embassies and consulates located in the U.S.
Rather than take the press release at its word, we decided to find out if this non-profit organization is selling information that is already available free (i.e. reference material at libraries) or at a much lower price to the public.
We're glad we gave it a second look because it is.