State Department of Health
Central Building
101 South Mercer Street, Room 401
P.O. Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16101
Phone: (724) 656-3100
What You Need to Know:
Check or money order should be made payable to Division of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. Call or visit the Web site to verify current fees. All requests for 1906 and later records MUST include the signature and photo ID of the individual requesting the record. The online request service is not available for genealogy requests.
Web site: Pennsylvania Vital Records
Dates: From 1 January 1906
Cost of copy: $10.00
Comments: Access to birth records in Pennsylvania is restricted to immediate family members and legal representatives (spouse, parent, siblings, children, grandparents, grandchildren). Other family members (cousins, etc.) can obtain a copy of a birth certificate only if the individual is deceased and a copy of the death certificate is submitted with the request.
With your request, include as much as you can of the following: the name on the birth record being requested, date of birth, place of birth (city or county), father's full name, (last, first, middle), mothers full name, including her maiden name, your relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, your purpose for needing the copy, your daytime telephone number with area code, your handwritten signature and complete return mailing address.
Application for Birth Certificate
* For earlier records, write to Register of Wills, Orphans Court, in the county seat of county where event occurred.
* Persons born in Pittsburgh from 1870 to 1905 or in Allegheny City, now part of Pittsburgh, from 1882 to 1905 should write to the Office of the Register of Wills for Allegheny County.
* For events occurring in the City of Philadelphia from 1860 to 1915, contact the City of Philadelphia Archives (be sure to ask for a non-certified, genealogy copy).
Dates: From 1 January 1906
Cost of copy: $9.00
Comments: Access to death records in Pennsylvania is restricted to immediate and extended family members and legal representatives.
With your request, include as much as you can of the following: the name on the death record being requested, date of death, place of death (city or county), your relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, your purpose for needing the copy, your daytime telephone number with area code, your handwritten signature and complete return mailing address.
Application for Death Certificate
* For earlier records, write to Register of Wills, Orphans Court, in the county seat of county where event occurred.
* Persons who died in Pittsburgh from 1870 to 1905 or in Allegheny City, now part of Pittsburgh, from 1882 to 1905 should write to Office of the Register of Wills for Allegheny County.
* For events occurring in City of Philadelphia from 1860 to 1915, contact the City of Philadelphia Archives (be sure to ask for a non-certified, genealogy copy).
Dates: Varies by county
Cost of Copy: Varies
Comments: Send your request to the Marriage License Clerk for the County Court House in the county where the marriage license was issued.
Dates: Varies by county
Cost of copy: Varies
Comments: Send your request to the Prothonotary for the County Court House where the divorce decree was granted.
