Birth Certificates:
Who needs one?
Throughout life a person will use his or her birth certificate for various reasons, including verifiying
age, parentage and citizenship. Birth certificates are also needed for entrance into school, marriage licenses, drivers's
licensure, obtaining passports, veterans' benefits, welfare, and social security benefits among many other usages.
Henry County Health Center is able to provide you with birth certificates from 1910 - present.
Birth certificates can be given to the following people:
- Registrant: (the person whose name is on the certificate)
- A member of the immediate family which includes those family members and in-laws in the direct line of
descent up, but not including cousins:
Wife, Husband, Son, Daughter, Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Grandmother, Grandfather,
Grandchildren, Aunt, Uncle, Niece and Nephew are eligible to receive your birth certificate.
- A guardian may receive a copy of a birth certificate of a child who is under thier care and custody,
with appropriate guardianship papers.
- Foster Parents with appropriate custody papers
- Authorized agent of person or family.
- Others as demonstrated by a direct and tangible interest when information is needed
for determination or protection of personal or property rights.
People not eligible to receive a birth certificate are: Cousins, Funeral Directors, an alleged
father, genealogists, and friends.
Current cost for a birth certficiate as of August 28, 2004 is $15.00 Please bring photo
identification.
For a Birth or Death Certificate Application, go to:
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BirthAndDeathRecords/birthdeath.pdf
You may bring this with you to the Henry County Health Center and we can print you a Birth Certificate, if, and only
if, you live in Missouri. We can also print you a Death Certificate, as long as you are one of the eligible persons
to pick it up. You must have proper identification with you (such as Driver's License) in order to obtain either a Birth
or Death Certificate.
Death Certificates:
Death certificates can provide important information such as circumstances/cause
of death, final disposition, his/her parents, date of birth, race, sex, and name of spouse. This type of information
is needed for insurance benefits, pension claims and the transfer of real and personal property.
Death certificates are available from 1980-present.
All family members, genealogists representing family members, a physician acting on behalf of the preson
or family and a funeral director acting on behalf of the family.
People who will not be able to receive a death certificate include : friends, attorneys not acting on
behalf of the person or family, and physicians not acting on behalf of the person or family.
Cost of a death certificate as of August 28, 2004 is $13.00. Each additional Death Certificate at
time of request is $10.00 Please bring photo identification. Birth and Death certificates are usually available within
5-10 minutes.
Call 885-8193 with any further questions. These services are available Monday-Friday 8:00am -
4:15pm (closed 12:00-12:30 for lunch).
If you are needing a Birth Certificate and were not born in Missouri, please go to that state's website
or come into the Health Center for an application to fill out and send in.
