Vital Records (Birth, Death & Marriage Certificates)
When requesting an official New Hampshire Vital Record you must have a direct & tangible interest in obtaining the record. An application, proof of identity and payment are required for all requests.
Click here: APPLICATION FOR A VITAL RECORD, print and fill out completely. Please read all instructions before submitting your application to your Town Clerk. Remember this application is used for several kinds of vital records. Include cash or check made out to the Town of Hampton Falls – $15 for the first copy and $10 for each additional copy. You will need to include a copy of your driver’s license with the application and payment.
New Hampshire vital records are considered to be private, and access to them is restricted by statute to those individuals who have a “direct and tangible interest” in the record. Copies of vital records may only be obtained by the registrant, a member of his immediate family, guardian, or representatives with “a direct and tangible interest” such as an attorney, funeral director, or other authorized agent acting in behalf of the registrant or his family. In order to determine if the “legal representative” may have access to the record, the direct and tangible interest must be presented in a letter, on the requester's letterhead, clearly stating the registrant's full name, date of death, place of death, the reason why the record is being requested and needs to be signed by the attorney or physician. The individual signing the letter shall submit a photocopy of their government issue id. If the requester is allowing another individual to pick-up the record on their behalf, that individual's name must appear in the letter and they will be required to show their government issued id in our office in order for us to issue them the record.
To view all of the disclosure limitations to our records, click on this link to our statute; RSA 5-C:105. Certain older records are exempted from these access restrictions; “Birth records more than 100 years old and death, marriage, and divorce records more than 50 years old shall be considered part of the public domain.” Based on current statute, birth records prior to 1911 and death, marriage, and divorce prior to 1961 are considered to have unrestricted access.
Individuals wishing to research these “genealogical” records may do so by visiting our “Genealogical Research Center” that is located at our site at 9 Ratification Way, Concord, NH 03301. Alternatively, upon receipt of a completed application, positive identification and the required fee, Vital Records staff will research records for you.
Please click below to request online.
