What Vital Records Can You Search Online for Free?
Vital records — birth certificates, death records, marriage licenses, and divorce decrees — are the foundational documents of genealogy, legal proceedings, and identity verification. While certified copies typically require proof of eligibility, a vast ecosystem of free online indexes, obituary databases, cemetery records, and reunion registries makes it possible to locate and verify vital record information without cost.
Obituary Search
Obituaries remain one of the richest sources of biographical information available to researchers. Legacy.com hosts over 200 million obituaries and is the most comprehensive digital obituary archive in the world. Legacy.com aggregates obituaries from over 2,800 newspapers and 12,500 funeral homes, making it the largest free obituary search engine in the United States. For historical obituaries, the Library of Congress's Chronicling America project has digitized newspapers dating back to 1789. GenealogyBank maintains over 316 million newspaper obituary records spanning 327 years across 16,000 publications.
Death Records & Indexes
Death records are searchable through several free indexes. The Social Security Death Index (SSDI), maintained by the Social Security Administration and containing over 100 million records, available on FamilySearch, contains over 94 million records of deaths reported to the Social Security Administration from 1935 to 2014. DeathIndexes.com maintains a comprehensive state-by-state directory of online death indexes, death certificate databases, and burial records. Many individual states also publish their own searchable death indexes through their vital records offices.
Cemetery & Grave Records
Cemetery and grave records have been revolutionized by volunteer-driven projects. Find a Grave, now owned by Ancestry, hosts over 226 million memorials with headstone photos and biographical data contributed by volunteers worldwide. BillionGraves specializes in GPS-tagged headstone records, making it possible to locate exact gravesite positions. The Veterans Affairs National Gravesite Locator covers over 3 million veterans' burials since the Civil War.
Adoption & Reunion
Adoption records occupy a unique space in vital records research. While original birth certificates and adoption files are typically sealed by court order, mutual consent reunion registries allow adoptees and birth parents to find each other. The International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR), operating since 1975, is the oldest and largest free registry of its kind. DNA testing through services like AncestryDNA and 23andMe has become the most effective modern tool for adoption reunions, with millions of genetic matches facilitating family connections.
Marriage & Divorce Records
Marriage and divorce records are maintained at the county and state level. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) — which has compiled vital statistics data since 1933 — statistics publishes a "Where to Write for Vital Records" guide linking to every state's vital records office. FamilySearch offers free searchable indexes for historical marriage records across most states. County clerk offices often maintain online searchable marriage license databases for recent records.