Vital records are a very important part of genealogical research. Vital records include birth, death and marriage records. At its most basic level, a family tree documents the life cycles of a family through its births, deaths and marriages. The written family genealogy that normally accompanies a family tree provides color and detail that flesh out the story of the family, but a family tree diagram documents the dates and locations of the most important events.

Therefore, it is important to understand how to access and use vital records. A major advantage of official vital records is that they are both complete and accurate. The information contained within has been verified instead of being based on estimates or guesswork.

Depending on the country, city and time period of the event, they are kept by a variety of sources. Some European countries began keeping them at the national level during the nineteenth century. In the United States and Canada, record keeping is left to the individual state and/or city. New Orleans has the oldest required vital records in the U.S., dating back to 1790, while South Carolina did not require their registration until 1915.

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