New Jersey has been registering the births taking place in the state since 1848. The state birth records since then up till 1922 were stored at the New Jersey State Archives at the Division of Archives and Record Management. From 1923 onwards the storage facility was shifted to New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics and Registry.So if you want to access the New Jersey Birth Records, you would first have to check if you are a qualified applicant or not. You are a qualified applicant only if you are the parent, legal guardian, spouse, child, grandchild or sibling of the subject whose Birth Records are requested. You also have to be of legal age and give a solid reason for the access to the Birth records; the New Jersey State laws restrict the release of information about Birth Records to public. If you meet the above requirements then you can write an application for the release of the birth records. Depending on whether you were born before 1923 or after, you submit the application to either the New Jersey State Archives at the Division of Archives and Records Management on 185 West State Street, CN 307, Trenton, NJ 08625-0307 or the New Jersey Vital Statistics Customer Service Unit, P.O. Box 370, Trenton, NJ 08625-0370. You should also ensure that you write a personal check or a bank draft in the name of the respective department.
New Jersey death records and other such vital records are part of the Department of Health and Senior Services. All the records predating 1900 are under the control of the Division of Archives.
New Jersey State law does not consider death records and other vital records, public information. They cannot be searched online. New Jersey offers multiple levels of death records, including certified copies, which bare the raised seal of the state of New Jersey, and issued on a special type of paper.
Certified copies are considered a legal document, and can be used to supply proof of death to insurance companies or relationship regarding property inheritance. Certifications, however, are printed without the seal, and without the specialty paper.
They cannot be used for any legal reason, and therefore are most commonly used when studying family histories. They do not contain important information such as the social security number or private medical information.
For Genealogical research, or family history, the death certificate must have been issued more than 40 years prior to the current date. You also must provide identification, and proof of your kinship with the deceased if you are requesting a certified copy, otherwise your identification alone will do.
Information that you will need to provide to ensure the record can be found is, the date, at least the year that the person passed away, the location to include county where the death certificate was issued, and the deceased’s full name. Other information that can help narrow down the search results is the parent’s names, as well as the social security number. The more proper information you can provide the more likely you are to find the certificate you are looking for.
