Records & Documents
Birth, death, court and federal records — how to obtain them, correct them, and authenticate them.
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Ordering a Birth Certificate and Correcting an Error
A birth certificate is held by the state where the birth happened, not by the federal government. That same state is the only office that can correct what the record says.
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Death Certificates: Who Can Order and How Many to Get
Certified death certificates come from the state or county where the death occurred, and only certain relatives and representatives may order them. Most estates need far more copies than families expect.
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REAL ID and What Documents the Counter Will Accept
REAL ID is a federal standard that states apply at their own counters. It requires original or certified documents in four categories, and photocopies are rejected as a matter of rule.
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Changing a Legal Gender Marker on Identity Documents
Each identity document carries its own sex or gender field, controlled by a different office with its own evidence rules. There is no single national procedure and no single national standard.
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Apostilles and Authenticating Documents for Use Abroad
An apostille is a certificate that lets a foreign government trust the signature on a US document. State documents go to the state's competent authority and federal documents go to the Department of State.
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Marriage and Divorce Records: Certified Copies and Sealing
A marriage record is held by the county that issued the license and often by the state registrar. A divorce decree is held by the court that granted it, which is a different office entirely.
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Court Records: Public Access, Redaction, and Sealing
Court records are presumptively public, and the burden falls on whoever wants something withheld. Most protection comes from redacting specific data rather than closing an entire file.
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Correcting a Social Security Record
The Social Security Administration keeps two separate records: your identifying information and your lifetime earnings. Each has its own correction process, and one of them has a deadline.
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Notarization, Remote Notarization, and What a Notary Cannot Do
A notary verifies who signed a document and that the signing was voluntary. Nothing in a notarial certificate says the document is true, lawful, or worth signing.
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Adoption Records and Original Birth Certificate Access
An adoption creates an amended birth certificate and seals the original. Three separate files result, held by three different offices, each with its own access rule.
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Fingerprint Background Checks and Challenging an FBI Record
The FBI compiles a criminal history summary from fingerprints submitted by other agencies. You can request your own copy, and errors are corrected through the agency that reported them.