Birth and Death Certificates

You may order a copy of a Montana Birth/Death Certificate using one of the following services:

  • VitalChek - Order online with your credit card
  • Call toll-free (888) 877-1946 to contact VitalChek to use a credit card over the phone (Additional fees will apply)
  • Place an order by mail
  • In person:
    Office of Vital Records
    111 N Sanders Rm 6
    Helena, MT.
    Office hours: 8am - 4:30pm
    Office closed on Friday's between 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Identification is required for the purchase of a Montana Birth or Death certificate. View the list of suggested Identification.

To place an order by mail:

Fill out and mail the appropriate application and your check or money order.


Disclaimer: Processing time varies depending on staffing and workload. To check on the status of a request, call (406) 444-2685.

Montana Vital Records does not accept credit cards or online orders over the phone. For your convenience, we have partnered with independent companies to provide this service;  VitalChek Network, Inc. 1 (888) 877-1946. This charges an additional fee for using their service, and all major credit cards are accepted, including American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard® or Visa®.

The following contact may be used to assist you:

For general questions on how to obtain a birth or death certificate, and individual marriage and divorce information, please contact:

Montana Dept of Public Health and Human Services
Office of Vital Records
HHSVitalRecords@mt.gov
(Note: Applications are not accepted via E-mail.)

Birth/Death Certificate Requests FAQ

There are three ways you can request a birth or death certificate:

  1. Mail- You can fill out a paper application and mail it to our office. Please attach a photocopy of the front and back of your photo ID and include the fee appropriate to the number of copies you are ordering.
  2. Online- We have an affiliated third-party company that takes orders using a credit or debit card. You can find them at VitalChek.com. Once there, fill out the necessary information. For security purposes you may be required to provide them with a picture of your photo ID or other documentation.
  3. In-Person- You can come into our office in Helena, or any local County Clerk and Recorders office and request your certificate in person!  You will need to bring a current/valid photo ID with you and will fill out the application in person once you arrive.

All certificates cost $16. This includes birth and death certificates, certified and informational copies, and abstract and long form versions.

Please send an email to HHSVitalRecords@mt.gov and include the following:

  • How the request was made (paper application or online and if online, include the website and order number)
  • When the request was made
  • Full name on requested certificate

What you are needing is what we call a long form. When requesting, please note that a long form is needed, and one will be issued to you in place of the abstract version we typically issue.

Our office does not complete Apostilles. When requesting your certificate, please let us know you are needing an Apostille for your certificate. We will mail the certificate to the Secretary of State once issued and their office completes the Apostille. Please note that they have a $10 fee for these, and you will need to contact their office beforehand so that they know your request will be coming. Please do not combine our payment with theirs if sending a check or money order. You can reach their office at 406-444-1877.

We cannot take cards over the phone. To pay with a card, please head over to VitalChek

You can provide us with a few alternatives:

  1. You can have your paper application notarized, affirming that you are you.
  2. You can provide a couple of alternative forms of ID so long as one includes a signature. An example of this is a signed social security card, a signed debit/credit/atm card, a signed fishing license, a signed traffic ticket, a DD214.  The other forms can include a copy of your car registration/insurance, doctor/medical record, utility bill with your current address, voter registration card.

You can ask an authorized family member your parents, grandparents, children, spouse to request it for you.  They would need to provide proof of relationship to you, such as copies of their own birth certificates or marriage license.

In the state of Montana, free certificates are not provided. Please order a certificate using one of the ways stated above.

No, marriage licenses and divorce decrees are kept at the county level by the Clerks of District Court. For marriages you will need to contact the county where you PURCHASED the license rather than the county you were married in. For divorces, it will be the county where the divorce was filed.

We can do a search of our Marriage and Divorce Index to provide you with that information. You will need to fill out an application and send that to our office along with the fee. The fee starts at $10 and covers the search of five years, with $1 being added for each additional year we search.