Click here to download a copy of the application for requesting certified copies.
For all orders, the following must be provided with your completed application:
- all required copies of ID for proof of identity
- the correct fees
- copies of documents proving your relationship to the person named on the record, if requesting a certified copy
Your application will be returned if you do not send in all required documentation.
Any vital records associated with Mountainside Hospital are held by Glen Ridge. Their number is 973-748-8400, ext. 221.
Step 1: Identify the Record
Step 2: Provide Acceptable Identification
Step 3: Payment of Fees
Step 4: Proof of Relationship
Step 5: Submitting your completed application and supporting documents
How to Prove Relationship
Step 1: Identify the Record
You must be able to fully identify the record by providing all of the information listed below on the application form. Your request cannot be accepted unless you provide the information below.
- Full name on the record
- City where the event occurred
- Exact date of the event (month, day and year)
- Mother’s maiden name
- Father’s name (if recorded on the record)
- For Marriage, Civil Union or Domestic Partnership - Instead of parents’ names, you must provide the name of the spouse/partner.
Step 2: Provide Acceptable Identification
You must provide acceptable ID in order to get a copy of any vital record. Copies of vital records must be mailed to the address listed on your identification.
The following are acceptable forms of ID:
A current, valid photo driver's license or photo non-driver's license with current address
OR
A current, valid driver’s license without photo and one alternate form of ID, both with current address
OR
Two alternate forms of ID, both of which must have current address.
Alternate forms of ID are:
- Vehicle registration
- Vehicle insurance card
- Voter registration
- US/Foreign Passport
- Immigrant Visa
- Permanent Resident Card (Green card)
- Federal/State ID
- County ID
- School ID
- Bank Statement (within previous 90 days)
- Utility bill(within the previous 90 days)
- W-2 for current/previous tax year
People who are homeless can have a social worker or the coordinator of the homeless shelter where they are temporarily residing submit a request on behalf of the homeless person, one copy of their birth certificate with the fee waived. The request must be on their agency letterhead and provide the identifying information on the homeless person's vital record. The request must be accompanied by proof of employment by the agency and valid identification. The resulting copy of the vital record will be mailed to the agency.
People who are incarcerated can provide legal imprisonment, conviction papers or release documents that include the name, social security number and all possible aliases used in the past AND photo work identification from a prison/probation official.
Please do not send in original ID documents. Only copies are required. If you want to have your order mailed to a different address than what is listed on your identification, your application must include a notarized letter that authorizes the order to be mailed to a different address.
Step 3: Payment of Fees
Certified copies are $20 per copy.*
We accept checks and money orders made out to Township of Montclair.
We also accept exact change in person.
Please do not send cash through the mail.
*If you order 4 or more copies of death certificates, they are $10 each.
Step 4: Proof of Relationship
To get a certified copy of a person’s vital record, you must provide proof of your relationship to the person listed on the record and the proof must establish you are one of the following:
- The subject of the record
- The subject’s parent, legal guardian or legal representative
- The subject’s spouse/civil union partner; child, grandchild or sibling, if of legal age
- A state or federal agency for official purposes
- Pursuant to court order
See the How to Prove Relationship tips at the bottom of this page for information on how to prove your relationship. This is a key requirement to getting a certified copy of a vital record.
Failure to provide proof of relationship is the number one reason certified copy applications must be rejected.
Step 5: Submitting your completed application and supporting documents
Regardless of the where you place your order you will have to provide with your application:
- all required copies of ID establishing your identity
- the correct fee, and
- copies of documents proving your relationship to the person named on the record, if you are ordering a certified copy
Your application will be returned if you do not send in all required information.
Submit your request and supporting documentation via one of the following order methods:
Walk-in Service
Please call ahead to confirm a registrar is available. It may take up to 3 business days to process your request.
Mail Orders
You may mail your completed application, supporting documents, and check or money order made out to Township of Montclair to:
Township of Montclair
Office of Vital Records
205 Claremont Ave.
Montclair, NJ 07042
How to prove relationship
If you are looking for a certified copy of
- your own birth certificate and you have assumed your spouse’s/civil union partner’s surname you must provide a copy of the certified copy of your marriage/civil union certificate to link the name on your current ID to the name on your birth certificate.
- your child’s birth certificate you don’t need any additional documents.
- your spouse’s/civil union partner’s birth certificate you must provide a copy of your marriage/civil union certificate.
- your parent’s or sibling’s vital record you must provide a copy of your birth certificate. If you have assumed your spouse's/civil union partner's last name you must also provide a copy of your marriage/civil union certificate to link the name on your current ID to the name on your birth certificate.
- your grandparent’s vital record you must establish that you are the person’s grandchild by providing proof that links the name on your ID to the name of the grandparent. For example, if you changed your last name after marriage/civil union and want a grandparent’s vital record, you must:
1. Provide your marriage/civil union certificate to show your name at birth,
2. Provide your birth certificate to identify your parent, and
3. Provide the parent’s birth certificate to identify the grandparent.
If you are not a person qualified to get a certified copy of a record
- but you are helping a person receive a certified copy of a vital record they are eligible to receive you must show your valid ID and a notarized, written release authorizing you to get the record on that person’s behalf including their proof of relationship to the subject of the record.
If you are an attorney
- who is executor of an estate you must supply proof of appointment as the executor.
- who is the legal representative of the executor of an estate you must supply proof of legal retainer by the executor and proof of the appointment of the individual as the executor.
- who is the legal representative of an individual that is eligible to receive a certified copy of a vital record you must supply proof of legal retainer by the eligible individual and their proof of relationship.
- who needs a certified copy of a vital record and you are not the legal representative of an eligible person you must obtain a court order directing the State Registrar to issue a certified copy of the record. A subpoena is not sufficient to issue a copy of a vital record.