Montana Vital Records

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County Records of Births and Deaths
Some counties began recording births and deaths as early as 1864. These records have been kept by the clerk of the court in each county. A few of the early county records have been transcribed and published, and these are available at the Family History Library.

State Records of Births and Deaths
Statewide registration of vital statistics began in Montana in 1907 and was generally complied with by 1920. Delayed registrations of births are included in the indexes maintained by the state office.

The Montana State Genealogical Society maintains the Montana State Death Registry Index, Pre-1954 1954-2002 online at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mtmsgs/death_records.htm. Scroll to the bottom of the page to link to the time period you want to search. This database covers over 650 thousand records reported to the State from the 1800s through 2002.

Montana Vital Records
All of the records are available to relatives by writing to:

Office of Vital Statistics Department of Public Health and Human Services 111 N Sanders, Room 209 PO BOX 4210 Helena MT 59604 Telephone: 1-888-877-1946 Fax: 1-866-696-1912 http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/

The current fees for obtaining copies of the state's vital records are also listed at www.vitalrec.com.

Marriage and Divorce Records

There is no centralized registration of marriage records. Each county generally began keeping marriage records soon after its organization. Write to the clerk of the district court for copies of marriage and divorce records.

The State Department of Health has an index to marriages beginning in 1943. This index helps to identify the county in which the marriage occurred. The original records are available only in the county. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many county marriage records.

Early marriages for many of the counties are searchable online at no cost on the Western States Marriage Index.

Inventory of Vital Records
More information about the history and availability of vital records is in Guide to the Public Vital Statistics in Montana (Bozeman, Montana: Historical Records Survey, 1941; Family History Library book 978.6 V2h; film 1036403 item 7; fiche 6046712).

= Web Sites =

http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/deathrecords.html