Certificates (Birth/Marriage/Death)

[zeliack]

I am currently in the process of gathering the necessary certificates to prove my relationship to my ggf.

When using Vitalchek, it is safe to assume that "dual citizenship" is the accurate reason to choose and thus being provided with the long form for the birth certificates.

However, that does not exist for marriage/death certificates.
Marriage certificate for instance...which of these is the one I would want? "Apostle/Authentication" or "Legal Purposes"? They don't say long-form on marriage/death at all.

Additionally when I called them up and asked about getting the marriage/death for my ggf, they said I would need to get it from the courts directly b/c they only offer the "geneology version".

Thoughts?

[VaDeb]

Don't depend on Vitalchek. Go to your state's vital record website and look at the requirements for ordering vital records. Different states have different rules as to who can order a record. Also depending on the year you need, the record may exist in a state archive or even a website. There is a huge variation on what is available to the public for each state. Also depending on the year, you may have to order the record at a county level.

Debbie

[johnnyonthespot]

Also, in some states - such as Connecticut and New York - certificates can be obtained much more quickly and at less cost at the local level as opposed to the state vital records office.

I waited four months (!) for my wife's birth certificate and our marriage certificate from Connecticut vital records. After noticing small discrepancies on both, I drove 20 miles to the town where we were married, went into the clerk's office, and came out less than 30 minutes later with two copies of the corrected and certified document.

Not wanting to bother driving to New Haven, I spoke with that office then mailed the correction request; I had my wife's corrected birth certificate in hand less than one week later.

I have also obtained certificates from local town clerks in New York state in a matter of days as opposed to weeks or months when working at the state level.

One thing to be wary of: not all states will apostille locally-issued documents.