How do I trace my Father's Birth and Death Records for free.?

Question:

How do I trace my Father's Birth and Death Records for free.?

I am trying to trace my history but having checked some sites for births, marriages and deaths, apparantly I do not exist, nor did my father. Can anyone help me?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You're probably running into issues with privacy laws. You don't say which country you're in, but many won't allow birth records to be posted for 100 years to prevent people from stealing identities. In the US they can't be posted in most places for a minimum of 72 years, But many are using a 110 year rule on the local or state level. There is talk in Congress of changing it across the board to 100 years here, just like in England, Canada, etc.

You're not going to find most marriage records on the internet, either. Remember that a common security question is "what's your mother's maiden name"...so if states allow marriage information to be posted on living people, that security question isn't so secure anymore.

Death records may be on the internet...and some are free. In the UK you can look them up on BMD records. Canada isn't releasing them en masse, but you'll find obituary postings on most Canada GenWeb sites. In the US you need to go to Rootsweb and find the SSDI (Social Security Death Index)

Where you really need to look for these records is in the Vital Statistics unit or County Clerk's office where your dad was born, where he was married and where he died (I don't assume they all took place in the same town). You can usually LOOK at them for no cost, but you have to pay a small fee for an unofficial copy of the records.