Birth, death, marriage and divorce documents are all vital records. They are required documents, but, in many states, access is restricted.
Birth certificates are loaded with information. You will find names of parents, mother's maiden name and previous births, place of birth, address, profession, place of employment and obstetrician. They are a great way to find parents' places of employment and their birthplaces.
Marriage certificates are also filled with information. They give the bride's maiden name, home and work addresses of both parties involved and the witnesses at the time. Most states require two witnesses at a wedding, who are usually great leads for tracking information about a divorce or good background about the husband or wife.
Divorce records can be found in the civil court indices or sometimes contained in separate databases. The actual records often include much detail about the divorcing couple - everything from assets to pet custody.
Death certificates lead you to the existence of possible probate court filings. Probate court records, in turn, might provide the names of relatives and other family members, as well as lists of liabilities and assets. Two genealogy sites from Ancestry.com and Rootsweb.com offer the Social Security Death Index for free on the Web. Other services offer that same database, but at a cost.
Online death record indices can include the deceased's name, date of death, date of birth, destination of Social Security benefits, Social Security Number, location of the Social Security Number issuance, and last residence. Only the actual death certificate - available at the county level and not yet online - includes cause of death, place of death, and next of kin.
If you are trying to locate someone, a useful public record is a voter registration record. Most adults register to vote, and the records are almost always public. Every state has a central election agency or commission, and most have a central repository of voter information. The degree or level of accessibility to these records varies widely from state to state. Over half of the states will sell portions of the registered voter database, but only ten states permit individual searching by name. Most states only allow access for political purposes such as "Get Out the Vote" campaigns or compilation of campaign contribution lists.
Voter Registration records are a good place to find addresses and voting history. Nearly every state blocks the release of Social Security Numbers and telephone numbers found on these records. However, the records can generally be viewed in-person at the local level. There are some vendors that sell voter records - of course paying strict attention to the state access laws. One company is worth mentioning here, Aristotle. They offer nationwide voter information as a fee-based service that can be purchased on a state-by-state basis, in concert with the all state restrictions policies.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Charlie W. Mysen at 09012010
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