In the Netherlands, privacy laws restrict access to records of people who may still be alive. But this often affects records of people who were born (much) earlier too.
A few examples:
- Death records are only public after 50 years. My great-grandmother was born in 1893 but her death record only became public this year because she was 80 years old when she died.
- Notarial records become public after 75 years. If a person born in 1880 makes a will in 1970, their will only becomes public in 2046, 166 years after their birth.
- Sometimes records are part of a larger volume that spans a large period. The register only becomes public when the youngest record becomes public. I have seen church records where the baptismal register was kept from 1811 to 1950, with access restrictions until 2051.
In such cases, where you can easily show the person of interest is deceased, archives will usually allow you to see the record when you visit. Sometimes you need to get dispensation ahead of time, so it is best to contact them first. See the article about access to restricted records.
Death record of Cornelia Francisca van den Heuvel, 1973
About Yvette Hoitink
