Who can order someone else's birth certificate?

The common starting point

Most states built their rules on a national model, the Model State Vital Statistics Act published by the National Center for Health Statistics to promote uniformity among states. Its 1992 revision lets the state registrar issue certified copies to the registrant, a spouse, children, parents, a guardian, or their authorized representatives, and to others who need the record to determine or protect a personal or property right. It describes an authorized representative as an attorney, physician, funeral director or other designated agent, and it leaves room for each state to define eligibility further.

How states widen or narrow the list

States start from that model and then go their own way. Many use the phrase "direct and tangible interest" and add brothers, sisters and grandparents. Hawaii reaches anyone who shares a common ancestor with the registrant, including aunts, uncles and cousins. Others are much stricter: the District of Columbia names spouses and domestic partners among those who may not order, and North Dakota limits copies of a living person's record to the registrant, the parents named on it and people holding a court order or a notarized authorization. Before you order, check the list for the state or territory where the birth happened, not the state where you live now.

Proof of the relationship

When you order a relative's certificate, the office may ask you to show how you are connected. The usual documents are:

• your own birth certificate, when you are the registrant's child or sibling
• the birth certificate of your parent, the registrant's child, when you are a grandparent ordering a grandchild's record
• a marriage or domestic partnership certificate, when you are the spouse or partner
• the court order or guardianship papers, when you are a guardian or custodian
• a letter on letterhead with supporting papers, when you are an attorney or agency

Some states verify the link themselves from their own records; others, such as Vermont, take the relationship you state on the application.

When you are not on the list

If your relationship does not qualify, there are usually still lawful ways to get the record. In many states the registrant, or a parent named on the record, can sign a notarized letter or authorization allowing you to receive a copy. A court order naming you works everywhere. And once a birth record is old enough to become public, which ranges from 72 years in Delaware to 125 years in a few states, genealogists and anyone else can obtain it, sometimes only as an uncertified copy.

Ordering for someone who has died

Rules often relax after the registrant's death. Several states let a wider circle of relatives order once the person has died, and some ask for a copy of the death certificate with the application. Copies may then be marked "deceased". If you are settling an estate, the executor, administrator or the estate's attorney usually qualifies as an authorized representative.

How BirthChek handles eligibility

Each state page on BirthChek lists the relationships that state accepts and whether it wants proof. When you order, you pick your relationship from that state's own list, and if the state needs a document, your order page asks you to upload it before anything is filed. If your relationship is not on the list, choose "My relationship is not listed" and describe it in the box the form shows.