Genealogy Center

Death & Birth Records

The Genealogy Center has copies of many death certificates for New Mexicans between about 1907 and 1950 and these are available to the public. The years vary by counties. These death certificates are available on a local area network at the Genealogy Center and on microfilm. Volunteers from the Albuquerque Genealogical Society, the New Mexico Genealogical Society, and throughout the United States recently completed a project to index these certificates.

New Mexico Vital Records and Health Statistics was created in 1919.  Prior to this time, birth and death records were collected by a variety of institutions, including counties and churches. Both birth and death certificates for New Mexicans may be requested from the State Vital Records Office in Santa Fe in person, by mail, or online.  Birth certificates may also be requested in person at the Albuquerque office at 2400 Wellesley Dr NE.

The Genealogy Center has delayed birth records for New Mexicans on microfilm from about 1871 to 1895.

You may also want to consider using church records.  Mortuary and cemetery records and obituaries or birth announcements may also be available either online or in print.

Search our catalog for the many New Mexico vital record books, including indexes of civil death records and church burial and baptismal records, available at the Genealogy Center.

Marriage Records & Divorce Decrees

Copies of marriage licenses are available from the county clerk of the county where the marriage license was issued.  No civil marriage registers are available prior to 1863, however civil marriages may be recorded in county Justice of the Peace records or probate journals available from the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.  Again, you may also want to consult church records. 

The Genealogy Center has ledgers of marriage records for Bernalillo County up through about 1934, but not copies of marriage certificates.  You can look up and order marriage records for Bernalillo County on the Bernalillo County Record Lookup site.

Divorce decrees are available from the district court in which the divorce was filed.  For Albuquerque, that would be the State of New Mexico Second Judicial District Court.  Divorce decrees prior to 1912 are contained in the Judicial Records collection of the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Check the "New Mexico Families" tab for links to Early Catholic prenuptial investigations (diligencias matrimoniales) and Catholic marriage records.

Links for Locating Vital Records