This will be of interest to those who want to obtain New Jersey birth, marriage, and death certificates: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?level_3_id=7&page=3341241 As part of a new anti-terrorism effort, Governor McGreevey signed an executive order Wednesday that will make it more difficult to obtain someone else's birth certificate from local records offices. The order requires that certified birth certificates be issued only to people who are the subject of the record or their relatives. The order also requires all New Jersey birth certificates to be issued on a standardized form. [...] The order will also apply to death and marriage certificates. You'll note that the exec order applies only to *certified* BMD records -- the type of record required to obtain a drivers license or other 'official' documentation. This should not hinder genealogists from obtaining non-certified copies for research purposes. However, as with all things bureaucratic, it's possible that you'll run into some confusion and/or resistance at Town Hall. In which case, note this URL to the executive order: http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/governor/njnewsline/view_article.pl?id=693 Here's the relevant portion: "Certifications of vital records may also be issued in other circumstances, however, they will be for informational purposes only and cannot be used for identification or for other legal purposes." It would be a good idea to specify that your request is "for informational purposes only." -- Paul Havemann (paul@havemann.com) Havemann Family History: http://www.havemann.com/