Vital stats involve so many records; it is hard to begin to explain them all. However, you do not need to know everything in order to start your search. In fact, most people know very little when they search online. This is why searching online is so popular. You can search with less information and still get quality results.

Let’s start at the beginning.

What are vital stats?

When you search online, vital stats will include all court records. This increases your chances of finding the information you are looking for. However, it does result in a large amount of information and you will have to determine which ones you wish to examine.

The same cannot be said for searching in person. When you go in person, you have to know what documents you are looking for and where they will be found.

For example: The birth certificate will be in one county while the death certificate is in another. The marriage license will most likely be in yet another county and could be in another state altogether. This makes searching for vital records in person time consuming and difficult. However, if you know all the information and you live close, it is not out of the realm of possibility.

3 Ways to Obtain Vital Records

1. Contacting Vital Statistics Office
   a.    If you know the county in which the record is located you can contact the local vital statistics office.
   b.    Hours of operation vary but since they are government agencies, you can guess they will be open like all the other government offices in your area.
   c.    Generally, you can find the address through the State’s website. Go to the state and look up the county to find the correct address.
2. Walk-in the Office
   a.    This is faster than contacting the office by phone or letter.
   b.    Once you know the location and hours of operation, you can walk-in the office and get service.
   c.    Same day service is often available for birth certificates. Other records will take a while.
3. Online Search
   a.    This is the fastest way to obtain information.
   b.    Online databases will charge a fee for searching. However, you can search for multiple records in multiple cities, counties, and states at the same time.
   c.    The documents you find will represent official documents but they are not certified copies. The results show what you would find if you went to that court.

You can travel from county to county searching through public records or you can search online for vital stats and get results now. The only reason to waste time going to courthouses is if you need the official document. Otherwise, save yourself the trouble and search online.

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A vital records search is an important tool in any beginner detective’s belt. Whether you are conducting genealogical research, spying on a boyfriend or girlfriend, trying to locate someone or just practicing your detective skills, the vital records database is an important step in becoming your own private eye.

Familiarize Yourself with Vital Records
Beginners underestimate the power of a good vital records search. They just don’t realize the wealth of information that can be found simply by searching through court records.

Here is just a sample of the records you might find when searching through public records:

• Criminal Background

o    Felonies
o    Misdemeanors
o    Sex Offenses
o    DUI/DWI

• Phone Number and Address History
• Civil Judgments
• Any Bankruptcy Claims
• Arrest Records including Warrants
• Relatives and their addresses
• Roommates,  Associates, and Neighbors
• Date of Birth
• Alias/Maiden Name
• Tax Liens
• Voter Records
• Marriages/Divorces
• Death Index Check

Key to Keeping Searches Secret
Private eyes, police officers, and federal agents rely on searches being kept quiet. You too need this same security when conducting your search. This is what makes online searches so useful. You do not have to go to the courthouse, where people can see you, to ask for information. You can search in the privacy of your own home.

However, you need to make sure your choice of search databases will keep up their end as well. Always check the privacy policy before conducting a search. You do not want a database that will sell your information. Since you put in a credit card to pay, you need some assurance that they will keep your information secret. That is why we recommend a site that keeps your searches in the highest of confidence.

Ethical Requirements of Vital Records Searches
As a beginner detective, you are expected to keep information confidential. Not everything you find should be shared with the general public. You need to remember, just as you want your information to remain private, so will others.

When people ask you to research people, keep their information and the results secret. This is especially true when you locate disparaging information like criminal backgrounds, divorces and other offenses. This information can hurt people and it does involve real people. Therefore, if you want repeat business, you will keep information private.

You can begin your private detective work now by conducting a vital records search. Familiarize yourself with the information and you will be on your way to a successful private eye.

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Recently we started to try to find birth parents for a friend of ours. We thought this process would be simple just like the television shows made it seem. The problem was that even though we had several hundred dollars to search, we had very little information to go on. However, we were able to locate the birth parents. This is our story and we hope that it helps others.

Finding People is NOT as Easy as the Movies
We may have been a little naïve to think, that we could walk into some Humphrey Bogart office and hire a private eye to find a friend’s biological mom. We thought we could give him my friend’s name and birth date and he would come back a few days later with a name and phone number. I was wrong.

I called several places and basically got laughed at. Some were kinder than others were, but they all told me that unless I had the birth mother’s name, I was flat out of luck. Frankly, I thought that if I had the birth mother’s name I wouldn’t need them. Even so, they said it would cost a lot to find her with no information.

Time to Get Sneaky Myself
At this point, we decided we had to be our own private eye to find the birth parents. This meant that I began by questioning all my friend’s family members. Unfortunately, no one could remember the birth mother’s last name. Although, they did remember her first name, which we will call “Kim.”

We also found some more useful information when an aunt remembered that “Kim’s” birthday was two days after a cousin of ours. That meant that Kim was born on July 16. We did not have a year but this was helpful.

Searching Online for Birth Records
We went online and read articles. That is when I found out about asking for non-identifying information from the adoption agency. There we discovered that the birth parents were from Farmersville, Texas. This was huge since it is such a small town.

It also told us that she was 17 at the time of adoption. That meant we now knew the year she was born. Kim was born July 16, 1962.

When we did a birth records search online, we found only one Kim born on July 16 in Greenville, Texas. (Greenville is the city you would be born in if you were from Farmersville.) We had a first and last name. We did a quick people search and voila we had a number. We found her birth mother!

It really is that simple to find birth parents. No need to pay an expensive detective and sort through dusty old books. You can do the research yourself and find everything you need. Start looking today and you just might find who you are looking for tonight.

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Are you worried your boyfriend could be cheating on you? Maybe you just suspect, but you have to catch the cheating boyfriend. Before you go out and hire a private eye to follow around your boyfriend, here are five signs that your boyfriend is cheating on you.

#1 Boyfriend is Hard to Reach:
If your boyfriend stops answering his cell phone like he used to, he could be cheating. This also holds true for work. When guys start cheating, they start hanging out with the new girl. Nothing pumps a damper on an affair like taking a call from the girlfriend, so they just don’t answer the call.

#2 Lack of Intimacy

• If he stops spending time with you without a good reason, then he might be cheating. Of course, work schedules change and job hours increase but those are easily explained and paychecks back them up.
• He stops holding your hand and stops sending you flowers.
• The biggest telltale sign is he stops having sex with you. He wouldn’t want to cheat on his current girlfriend with you now would he?

#3 He Gets Mad When You Look at His Cell Phone
If you pick up his cell phone by accident and he gets mad, you may want to snoop. Maybe your phone was dead or his was ringing. Whatever the reason, he got mad for no real reason that you can tell.

#4 Odd Computer Sites
So you were on his computer and you see weird chat rooms and e-mails. These are not his usual hangouts. You don’t recognize the people and he has never mentioned them. In addition, he goes there at weird hours.

#5 Your Boyfriend Changes his Appearance
This has got to be the biggest clue ever that a man is cheating. I do not know why guys do not think we will not catch on because we always do. Husbands and boyfriends alike think we are stupid, I guess.

They think that they can dress like hippies one day and then come home looking GQ the next, and we won’t notice. Then give us some flimsy excuse like, “What? I can’t buy some new underwear?” As if they even know what size underwear they wear in the first place!

The Challenge of a Cheating Boyfriend
Ladies, if you suspect your boyfriend is cheating, do not plan revenge. Do not go and make a fool of yourself. Before you go and hire an expensive private eye to track down that cheating fool, catch a cheating boyfriend here.

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Finding out that your spouse is cheating on you could be the worst truth that you can ever find out. However, it is one truth that you NEED to find out so that peace and harmony can be regained in the home setting.

There are many signs to know if your spouse is cheating and it’s not very hard to see. Sometimes, simple gut feeling will tell you that something is going on behind your back. There are several unusual ways, though, that will make you learn about your cheating husband or wife. Read on to see whether there is something serious to worry about or it is simply your insecurities that are emerging.

1. One weird way to find out is when your husband or wife of many years starts wanting to be sexually adventurous when before, he or she was very traditional.

2. Sexual acts lack the intimacy they used to have before. Maybe, your spouse is actually feeling guilty that he/she is cheating on his/her lover. That’s weird!

3. All of a sudden, you don’t look too attractive to him anymore and he actually has the guts to say it.

4. You can be suspicious when your spouse suddenly tells you stories about someone trying to hit on him but he has not shown interest on that person.

5. Going out to do mundane chores such as buying something in the store takes longer than usual. Also, it seems like there’s always somewhere to go, something he did not usually do.

6. Suddenly, your husband or wife is getting more calls and these calls are usually short. And what’s really weird is that he or she suddenly puts down the phone when you come near.

7. Another unusual thing about your spouse is that he is suddenly eating new kinds of foods.

8. And then, why is your spouse suddenly telling you to go out more often with your friends when he usually did not like you doing too much of that before. Maybe he says that he goes out with his friends often anyway but if you wanted to go out with him, he would find all sorts of excuses not to go out with you.

9. Why does it seem that your spouse looks like he has showered but has not been taking showers at your home for several days now?

10. Lastly, how come there are always two sets of food trash like two empty cups when there’s always one before?

There you go! It is time to take some action. Use your investigatory skills and find out for yourself if your spouse has been fooling you all this time. After all, no one deserves to be treated this way.

image credits to Auntie P

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