The Wisconsin Vital Records office is the service that is in charge of obtaining, filing, protecting and issuing copies of birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates and divorce certificates and all other information pertaining to vital records and related events that occur in the state.In order to research and obtain copies of Wisconsin birth records, Wisconsin laws require a signature and payment of designated fees. Therefore they accept application in three ways; in person, by mail and by fax.You can apply in person from Monday through Friday, except on state holidays. The service is open from 8 AM to 4:15 PM, and you will need to bring with you a Wisconsin Driver’s license, ID with photo or out of state ID or driver’s license with photo. You can also apply for the copies or obtain certificates of birth records by mail. You will need to download the application form, fill it in and then signing the form, making sure to include the fee of $20 by money order or by Personal check.You can also choose to apply for copies or birth certificates by fax. If you send a fax request, you will be charged a $20 for expedited service plus an additional $20 for the certificate and search to locate the records. All payments for the fax service are made by credit cards and you should normally receive the certificates within 2 business days.
Wisconsin makes it the duty of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to be in charge of the death records for the State. They are under the banner of the Wisconsin Vital Records Services. The Wisconsin Vital Records office requires that all applications are submitted in writing, and they must have both a signature as well as providing the proper fee. Because of this they do not accept application to request death certificates or vital records by email, website of phone. They do however offer in person, fax and standard mail.
Requirements for application, you must have two forms of Identification, this can be something like a drivers license or state ID and a major credit card. Other forms of acceptable identification include a checkbook, health insurance card, and a utility bill. The Wisconsin Vital Records Services contains records predating 1907 to the present.
Wisconsin’s laws restrict who may acquire a certified copy of the death certificate to protect against false claims. Those who are entitled to obtain a death certificate are the spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, child grandparent, or anyone who they so authorize. Also anyone who can present a legal cause to protect their right to property may obtain Wisconsin death records.
Wisconsin does however consider the death records themselves public information, and anyone may apply for an uncertified copy of the death certificate, just keep in mind that this will not work in any legal instance. Insurance companies will demand certified copies of Wisconsin death records. To obtain genealogy services around death records you may schedule an appointment to be allowed supervised access to the Wisconsin death and other vital statistics records. There are fees for staff assisted searches which are required for anything from 1968 to the present.
