<<<Regarding death certificates, are you aware that when you send for a copy, they block out the cause of death now? Several states are now doing this because of AIDS and the desire for privacy. Of course they didn't have AIDS 50 years ago. It's frustrating to deal with government logic. Pat>>> This is completely incorrect, Pat. True, many states now ARE deleting the "Cause of Death". Unfortunately, there IS a legitamate reason for this recent need to block the "Cause of Death" on government documents released to the public. It seems that insurance companies are using present medical knowledge of how disease and certain health conditions ( ie. heart disease) may be heretitary, and combining that with govt. statistical records to justify either denying some people health insurance, or charging them huge premiums ( hey - you're "high risk"...see, your great grandfather died of a heart attack as did your great great grandfather!). I don't know if this was ever put into practice, but the idea was seriously under consideration by insurance companies not long ago - and many State governments reacted swiftly to do somehting to protect their citizens. Unfortunately, the mega-greed of insurance companies was combatted with a method that denies many of us geneological information! So goes life in our society, I suppose. One slight bit of good news...I understand that in the staes that have enacted these "blackouts", you can STILL get the "Cause of Death" if you 1: press the issue, AND 2: are a "direct decendant" of the individual in question AND 3: can PROVE your direct connection to the individual in question (unfortunately, great uncle, second cousin, "he was the brother of my great granddad" are NOT considered "direct" decendant). Also, if you know where the person is buried, you may find the cause of death in cemetary records. I've done this in New Jersey, where it seems the "black out" applies only to official government records, and not to cemetary records ( though, given the level of greed by "some", I suspect this blackout will sooner or later be extended to these records as well)