California Vital Records Search

Birth records are retained by the Department of Public Health-Vital Records and by the County Registrar. Records requests can be made online or by mail. Birth records less than six months old are held by the County Registrar or County Department of Health and are not available through the CDPH-VR.

The CDPH-VR provides all of the forms and information you need to request your birth certificate. You will need to provide proof of identity and a notarized affidavit, along with a fee to receive your birth certificate.

Fees for birth certificates are $25 regardless of whether the record is certified or informational.

The CDPH-VR requires four to four-and-a-half weeks processing for online requests of births between 1905 and 1957, and five to five-and-a-half weeks for mail-in requests.

Records between 1958 to current require a processing time of two to two-and-a-half weeks for online requests and three to three-and-a-half weeks for mail-in requests.

California state law holds that records searches that result in no records found will still incur a fee. You will receive a notice that no record has been found, but you will not get a refund for your fees.

A certified birth record in California is a legal document that can be used to get a loan, apply for a passport, and many other official purposes. An informational record is still an official, certified copy, but may have social security numbers and other confidential information removed. Informational records can't be used for official purposes.

You can request birth certificate records from the county that holds the record. Processing times may be faster than requesting documents from the CDPH-VR.

You can request to have your parents added or removed from your birth certificate by filing the correct forms with the CDPH-VR. A fee of $23 is charged for amendments to birth records.

California provides an option to receive a free birth certificate record, but you must meet certain requirements. Generally, the program is only available to homeless Californians.

The CDPH-VR can't provide information about whether a record exists without first receiving an application, fees, and a sworn affidavit for certified copies.

All death records, whether official or informational, are considered certified in the state. You can request death records online or by mail. Certified copies will require a notarized statement that is available on the CDPH-VR website. You will also need to pay the fee.

The State of California charges $21 for records of adult deaths in the state occurring from 1905 to present. Fetal death certificates cost $18. Records of still born deaths can be requested for $24. You must submit an application with fees and a sworn affidavit for all official death records.

Processing times for records from 1905 to 1993 take four to four-and-a-half weeks processing for online requests, and five to five-and-a-half weeks for mail-in requests.

Records between 1994 to current require a processing time of two to two-and-a-half weeks for online requests and three to three-and-a-half weeks for mail-in requests.

Certified death records are confidential under California law and are restricted to immediate family, the spouse of the deceased, or legal representatives. If you do not qualify for a certified copy of the record, you can still request an informational copy that will include the facts of the death, but not the social security number.

Fees that are charged by the CDPH-VR for copies of death records are not returned. The State retains fees to cover the costs of research, even when records can't be found.

The CDPH-VR provides a form online you can use to correct information on a death certificate, such as spelling errors or incomplete information. You will need to supply supporting documents such as a birth certificate or marriage certificate. There is no charge to amend a death certificate within one year of death, but a certified copy of the amended record will incur a $21 fee. A $23 fee is charged for amendments made after one year following the individual's death.

The CDPH-VR does not provide an option for a status check of a record request. Once you submit your record request, the CDPH-VR will begin processing and will provide results within the listed processing timeframe.

Certified copies of death records are restricted to certain individuals. Certified records are used for official purposes, like applying for death benefits. Informational copies can't be used for official purposes and will have some information redacted. Informational copies are typically used for research.

The State of California began statewide collection of vital records on July 1, 1905. Death records prior to that date are held by the California State Archives, but the records are incomplete and only include some counties.

The CDPH-VR cannot find a record for you without an application and payment of research fees. You will need to submit a completed application and the appropriate fees to get a copy of a death certificate in California.

You can request a certified copy of a marriage license in California from the CDPH-VR website. Records of marriages are also retained by the County Registrar in the county the license was filed.

The CDPH-VR holds public marriage records from July1, 1905 through 2000, and public records from 2008 to current. Marriage records prior to 1905 can be found through the California State Archives. Public records from 2001-2007 are held by the County Registrar in the county where the license was filed.

Records are not available from the CDPH-VR for the first six months after marriage. These records are held by the County Registrar.

The County Registrar holds records of confidential marriages. Only the spouses, children and immediate family, or a legal representative may obtain a confidential marriage license record.

The CDPH-VR charges $15 for copies of a certified marriage record. Fees are also charged for confidential marriage records, but those documents are not public.

The CDPH-VR states that online requests will require four to four-and-a-half weeks for marriages occurring between 1905 and 1960. Mail-in requests for these dates will require five to five-and-a-half weeks to process.

Records between 1960 and 1999, or 2008 to current will require two to two-and-a-half weeks for online submissions and three to three-and-a-half weeks for mail-in requests.

Beyond the fact that public marriages are available to the public, while confidential records are not, the information available on the record itself varies. For instance, a public marriage record requires witnesses and signatures that are not required for confidential records. California is the only state to offer confidential marriage licenses and public marriage licenses.

The CDPH-VR cannot verify the existence of a marriage record prior to payment of fees. The fees paid are intended to fund the research for the record.

The State of California will not refund fees paid to research the existence of a record.

Prior to July 1, 1905, marriage records were held only by the County Registrar that issued the license. To find historical records, you will need to contact the County Registrar that issued the license. A list of County offices is provided by CDPH-VR for people conducting research on older records.

You can fix some errors on your marriage records by filing a request with the CDPH-VR. Errors such as spelling mistakes or incomplete information can be amended. Corrections filed within one year of the marriage will not incur a fee, but a certified copy of the amended record will cost $15. Marriage record corrections beyond one year of the event will require a processing fee of $23, but will include a certified copy of the amended record.

The CDPH-VR has divorce records from 1962-1984 that are available to the public. Newer or older records are held by the Superior Court that issued the decree. You can request records from CDPH-VR online or by mail. Superior Court records are requested from the Clerk of the Court.

Records of divorces between 1962-1984 requested from the CDPH-VR will include the face sheet of the divorce hearing. This information will include the names, addresses, and other information, but will not include records of the hearing. The record of hearing is retained by the Superior Court that issued the divorce decree.

The fee for a copy of a divorce record from the CDPH-VR is $14. You can also request the divorce record from the Superior Court. There is no charge to view records in person, but copies cost $0.10 per page.

The CDPH-VR will not refund fees paid to search for a divorce record, even if the record can't be found. You will receive a Certificate of No Public Record form.

CDPH-VR will not provide evidence of the existence of a record without payment of the research fee. You might have good luck searching the Superior Court records to find the case, which can be done for free at the Superior COurt that issued the divorce.

Records requests made through the CDPH-VR for divorce records between 1962-1984 will require a processing time of five to five-and-a-half weeks. Records outside these dates are held by the Superior Court. Older records will be retained in offsite storage and will take between several days to several weeks to order. Requests for these records must be made through the Superior Court.

It is possible to seal divorce records in California, but it is not an easy process. Courts are reluctant to seal records designated as public unless there is a compelling reason. Essentially, the risk of disclosing divorce information must outweigh the public benefit of access.