Follow the steps below to obtain a post-1910 vital record in most of the United States.

1. Select the state in which you wish to obtain a birth, marriage, or death record.

2. Select the type of vital record you wish to receive, whether it is a record of:
   • birth
   • marriage
   • death
   • divorce

3. Either fill out the form from the International Vital Records Handbook or write a letter including the following information in your own correspondence. (Caution: Several states require a form to be filled out, and may mail one to you before acting on your request.)
   • Name as it would appear on the record (maiden name if ever married).
   • Date or approximate date of the event (birth, marriage, divorce, or death).
   • Place or approximate place of the event.
   • Name of the father.
   • Name of the mother.
   • Purpose for which the certificate is ordered ("For genealogical purposes").
   • Explain how you are related to the person named on the certificate.
   • Your signature, address, and telephone number.

4. Include a check for the amount required by the state. It is usually not necessary to pay the extra fees for a certified copy of a vital record for genealogical purposes since the information is the most important criteria. It is a good idea, if a state suggests the option of either a "short or long form," to get the long form. The long form is a complete transcription of the original rather than a brief "short" abstract of the information. You want to get as much genealogical information as possible.

There may be a bit of lag time between when vital records are legally accessible to the public and when they become readily available on microfilm, microfiche, published books, or electronic medium. Most of these have been produced prior to 1910.

Many repositories, however, such as large public libraries, state libraries, and historical or local history libraries, will list birth, marriage, or death records as part of their collection.

These public collections include a very small number of actual vital records, photocopies of the original, or scanned documents in an online format. The majority of these records are indexes which may be on microfilm, microfiche, CD-ROM, or in a published format (such as the following example).