Death Records Now

So I located the marriage record on-line for my great grandparents,born in the mid 1800s.The information about their parents names and where they came from,wasn`t there.So, I need to either travel to the town where the record is,or send them $15.00 by mail.Will I get a copy of the actual record?I need brakes on my car and with gas prices so high,I thought I would write for it,but then I worry,I will get the wrong record,or the information I need won`t be there.Mich has not released all the death records and a person has to be dead for 150 years before you can obtain a birth certificate.Anyone that has been dead that long,likely was not even born here.The reason I couldn`t find it before,my great grandmother`s last name was misspelled on-line,but not on the actual record.I have gotten more information from family search,than my worthless ancestry.com subscription.
You were all very helpfull.Hard to pick a best answer.

Having read your other question, I’m going to answer parts of both in one place.

I have pretty good experience with Michigan marriage records. First, you need to know that there are different types of "marriage records". This is a generic term for anything that documents a marriage, whether it be a marriage license or certificate issued to the couple, a return book, record book, marriage bond, or register book. Each of these will have different information about the couple. In Michigan each county determines what records they keep and what information will be on them. Some counties have made frequent changes. If you get information from the record about the parents is hit and miss. In Michigan they often have place of residence, but usually do not have place of birth or places associated with the parents.

Since you are looking for a copy, I suspect you have not located the record online, but rather an index or transcription of the record. This source should give you the precise information you need to find the copy they indexed or transcribed from. If it was from Family Search you might be able to take the source code information to a Family History Center and request the microfilm. If it’s from a published genealogy book you can sometimes request an inter-library loan from your local branch library, request a photocopy of the page of interest, or check Google Books.

A few tips about ordering records from public agencies: they will not do research and they will not guess, no matter how logical or obvious. They will look for exactly what you ask them to look for. If the date range you ask for is 1 day off, if a name is spelled 1 letter off, or if your information gives them more than 1 possible record you may get a note back saying the record could not be found. This is why the indexes online are helpful. They *should* be exactly as they appear in the record. In both cases this requires that someone is able to read the handwritten record (i.e. Elmira and Elvira can get confused). When you send away to the agency they will either photocopy the information from their books, or they will transfer the information to a form and this form is considered a copy (although not always certified).

GenWebs do not provide records, they provide a place where people can post information and links to helpful resources. What the GenWeb itself provides is free, but not all of the resources they list will be.

My guess would be in a few years it will be over 8 bucks and then all he** will break loose. From the 1980’s all the way to 2003 it was only 25$ a barrel!! In early 2007 it was around 60$ dollars then rose to 92$ later that year! Now it has reached a record high at 117$ a barrel at 3.50$, as of today! Alaska’s oil is running low, Canada’s oil is running low, and militant groups are attacking crude oil pipelines. Bush talks about needing to get off of oil dependance, but nothing has been done, just crappy hybrids and the death of the electric car. Will there be something similar to the Vietnam Anti-War protest if this gets worse? It’s virtually impossible to satisfy a growing population dependant on oil. Will it be a Mad Max postapocolyptic future?

– p.s. I didnt make the numbers up
Yeah it’s sad, we will always be slaves to oil, as long as the government controls the oil, they control us.
I would like to just put the blame on Bush, because that would mean gas prices and the war would end when they left office, but that’s not gonna happen, there will be a new president, probably Mccain because presidents are usually x-military , and gas prices will still increase,the value of the dollar like Ron Paul said will decline, the war will still go on and Americas military will still "police the world".

Maybe it is time for us to protest the companies who continue to suppress the technologies that we could use to power things without the need for fossil fuels. The fuel cell, for example,which takes the "h"(hydrogen) out of h2o (Water), is used to help[ power the Space Shuttle. Why not vehicles? The Shuttle has been around for 20 odd years. So has this technology. Answer: Petrol/oil = money. Money buys patents for alternative power sources. Alternate power sources suppressed. Sad but true.

The countdown from Thanksgiving to Christmas is a magical time of year, but it’s also a warning to real estate investors that December 31 – the end of the tax year – is almost upon us. If you haven’t yet gotten your financial house in order you’re running out of time to gather your records and do some last-minute planning to minimize your tax burden. The good news is, if you start now, you still have time to save yourself some money on the tax bill you’re going to have to pay in April. Here are 10 great money-saving tax tips that will put a warm smile on your face regardless of the temperature outside.

1. Home Office Deduction – If you’re new to real estate investing, you may not be aware of this timeless treasure that the IRS makes available to you. By setting up a dedicated workspace in your home, you can deduct much of the costs of doing business if you work out of your home. In addition, you can proportionally write off some of your living expenses, such as mortgage interest, utilities, and telephone expenses.

2. Mileage Deduction – Sky-high gas prices will really save you money at tax time. You’ll be able to get some of these expenses back, but the standard rate will vary, depending upon when you were driving for business. For the half of the year ending June 30, the deduction is 50.5 cents per mile. Starting July 1 and going to the end of the year, that rate increased to 58.5 cents per mile.

3. Educational Expenses – Did you decide you just had to pick up that investing course, book, or CD set that claimed it would put you on Easy Street in no time? Good news. It’s deductible as long as your purchase was designed to expand your business opportunities.

4. 401K Conversion – Did you finally decide it was time to fly solo? If you quit your job this year, you can convert that 401K plan that’s getting beat up by Wall Street into a self-directed IRA. Not only will it save you money, it will also free up valuable dollars you can use to invest in even more real estate – all with Uncle Sam’s blessing.

5. Self-employed Health Insurance – One of the biggest challenges faced by self-employed real estate investors is how to pay for health insurance once you leave the relatively safe ranks of the employed. This deduction can save you a bundle because insurance premiums are very high.

6. Charitable Contributions – Do you love that warm, fuzzy feeling you get inside when you spread around some of your hard earned cash – and it’s not being caught by a Washington politician? If that’s the case, give to your heart’s content, while enjoying a sizable IRS tax deduction.

7. 1031 Exchange – This money-saving tip can save you tens of thousands of tax dollars over the course of your real estate investing career. When you sell a property for a profit you would normally get hit with a substantial capital gains tax. This technique allows you to defer your tax penalty indefinitely – until death if you like. Use the 1031 exchange to defer taxes you’d otherwise have to pay. While it’s true that “you can’t take it with you”, why should you take the taxes with you?

8. Charrissa’s Mortgage Secret – This technique seems devious, but it’s an entirely legal way to reduce your tax liability. Your mortgage payments are probably due on the 1st of the month. By paying them a day early, not only can you save a day’s interest, but you gain the benefit of being able to deduct an extra month of mortgage interest. How much can you save with this technique? How many properties do you have?

9. Charrissa’s Stalling Technique – If you’re planning on selling a property in December you can save your capital gains liability by delaying the closing until the new year. While not as beneficial as the 1031 Exchange, it still allows you to delay paying the tax for a full year.

10. Early Payment Discount – Will you owe state and local taxes this year? You have two choices: Pay them in January and wait a full year to take your deduction – or pay them in December and deduct them next April.

You may be wondering what to do with some of your tax savings. That’s really your call. You can use it for investing in another red-hot property or you might put it to good use as an extra nice Christmas gift for that special someone in your life, or you might even opt to perform a random act of kindness for someone less fortunate than you. If you play your cards right, you might be able to do all three.

Whatever you decide, enjoy doing it. Smile knowing that the money you’re spreading around is being spread by you – and not being squandered by your Uncle Sam.

Charrissa Cawley
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/10-yearend-tax-tips-every-real-estate-investor-must-know-717747.html