Maryland State Archives Vital Records

	Maryland State Archives Reference & Research	350 Rowe Boulevard Annapolis, MD 21401 MD toll free (800) 235-4045 or (410) 260-6400 fax: (410) 974-2525 email: ref@mdsa.net Directions and Hours Archives' Homepage

Vital Records

The Maryland State Archives maintains many records that are invaluable for biographical and genealogical research. These include birth records, adoption records, marriage records, divorce records, and death records, and some indices to these records. It is important to note that access to some of these records is restricted by law to protect the rights of the individuals named in the documents. See also Department of Health & Mental Hygiene's Vital Records.
For information about ordering birth and death records,
see our new policies and procedures, including the
Vital Records Indexing Project accessible at http://mdvitalrec.net

Adoption Records. All adoptions occurring after May 31, 1947 are sealed and can be opened only with a court order. Most adoptions prior to June 1, 1947 are open and available to anyone. Many of these files are available at the Archives.

Birth Records . The State Archives cannot provide any copies of birth certificates after the year 1924.
Birth certificates from 1925 to the present are only available from the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene at http://www.dhmh.state.md.us/lifeevents/birth&deathcert.htm The State Archives can provide certified copies of restricted birth certificates, where available, before the year 1925, for legal purposes only, with proper identification or legal authority. There are no restrictions on ordering birth records over 100 years old.
However, please note that modern birth certificates begin only in 1875 in Baltimore City and in 1898 for the rest of the state. Incomplete birth records from the colonial period to 1884, taken from church and civil sources, exist prior to these modern birth certificates, but are not in any way comprehensive. The Archives can search for and, if available, provide copies from these early records, providing that a specific church or county circuit court and year is given. General searches in one or more counties or across multiple years cannot be performed. For such searches please consult the Researcher List at: http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/refserv/forms/html/genealogistlist.html

(However, please note that locating these early records without a specific citation requires payment of the standard research fee of $25.00 per record. Among birth records only birth certificates cost $12.00 for a plain copy and $25.00 for a certified copy.)

Death Records . The Archives is custodian of death records for Maryland's 23 counties from 1898-1991, and for Baltimore City from 1875-1994.

Divorce Records. Divorce proceedings are one form of equity case. The most commonly needed documents from a divorce case are the decree of divorce and any associated separation agreement.

Marriage Records. The Archives has marriage records from most local jurisdictions prior to 1914. After that date there are both statewide and local records many of which can be found at the Archives.

Questions regarding Archives collections and services should be directed to the Reference Services Department at: ref@mdsa.net
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The use of any user name and password on our site is for personal and educational purposes only, and constitutes agreement to abide by any and all copyright restrictions. In most instances the user name and password of aaco; aaco# will work. Contact ref@mdsa.net if you have any questions or have difficulty accessing files.

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