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Utah Genealogy

Some official Utah genealogy documents will date from the late 1800s but the majority of records will start in 1905. You have several good options for getting copies of vital records as well as other types of historical material.

Utah Vital Records

Getting recent vital records (births, deaths, marriages) can be difficult unless you are a direct relative. These documents will only be issued to parents, children, siblings, spouses, grandparents or grandchildren of the person on the record. Older records then become public domain and can be accessed freely. The time limits are 100 years for birth records, 50 years for death records and 75 years for marriage records.

Records more recent than this can be ordered from the Vital Statistics office in Salt Lake City. The forms are available for download from their website and you can either mail your request or drop it off at their service counter. If you mail, it will take about 3 weeks but the personal service is typically while-you-wait. You can also order online with a credit card to pay the fees.

It will cost $18 for a birth record, $16 for a death record or a marriage record. These fees are not refundable if they cannot find the record you want, so make sure you have all the applicable names, dates and locations correct when you fill out the form. You also have to include your own contact information and photo ID.

If you do not need recent Utah genealogy documents, then you can get vital records from the State Archives.

Division of Archives and Records Services

The State Archives in Utah not only has old vital records for public and free access, you can also find a number of other document collections that are of interest to Utah genealogy. They also have naturalization papers, legislative documents, old city directories, newspaper archives, court papers, cemetery records, mining records and a lot more.

Their facility is in Salt Lake City and they are open Monday through Thursday during regular business hours. Admission is free but you will have some costs to make photocopies. Bags and backpacks will have to be left at the front desk and can't be brought into the research area.

LDS Family History Library

You can't do Utah genealogy research without taking advantage of the LDS Family History Library. The purpose of the library is to help members of the Church of Latter Day Saints with their own family research but the facility is open to anyone with no admission costs.

They have genealogical records for more than 3 billion people and their holdings are too expansive to fully list out but you will certainly find vital records, church documents, census records, tax records, naturalization and migration files, newspaper archives, business records, wills, land records and much more.

Of course, their facility is not just for Utah genealogy. They have records pertaining to people all over the USA and even world-wide. It's is in Salt Lake City just like the State Archives and you can visit 6 days a week (closed Sundays). Their hours are typically open later into the evening, except for Mondays when they close at 5pm.