How can I get a copy of my 1. Marriage Certificate? 2. Birth Certificate? 3. My grandfather’s death certificate?
Copies of vital records such as birth, death or marriage certificates can be requested for a fee of $5 apiece. A mail in request must be accompanied by a check made payable to the Town of Hampden. Please provide sufficient information, ie: full name(s), birth name, date of occurrence, etc, to limit search time. Enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope will help to expedite the process.
- Marriages are recorded in the community where the couple filed their intentions to marry. This isn’t always the same community where either lived, worked, or where the actual marriage took place. *note below
- Birth certificates are recorded in the actual community where the birth took place as well as the community of residence of the parents at the time of birth.
- Death certificates are recorded in the actual community where the death took place as well as the community of residence of the decedent at the time of death.
If you’re not sure where you filed your marriage intentions, where you were born or where you parents lived at the time of your birth, where a person died or his community of residence at the time, and you cannot locate the record you need, for a reasonable fee, the Registry of Vital Records will do a search of Massachusetts records back as far as 1916.
To request a copy of a vital record (birth, death or marriage) from the Registry of Vital Records, click here