California Public Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


If you are trying to locate files of Marriage in California, look for them at the vital records department of the California Department of Public Health or at the county Recorder's Office approved the marriage license. All marriage files maintained by the Recorder's Office are also sent to the central file repository which is at the vital records department.

The county Recorder's office is the office in-charge of providing certified authorized versions of the documents while the vital records department only provides certified informational version. Informational versions only serve as a source of information and, therefore, cannot be used in any legal proceeding. Any person can obtain the informational versions of the documents but only a few have the authority to obtain the authorized versions. Authorized versions are granted only to the bride, groom, their lawyers, and other parties authorized by the court because they contain confidential information. Informational versions contain the basic details of a marriage document, including the names of the spouses, their date of birth, and the time and location where the marriage transpired.

A marriage license is essential for marriage to become completely valid. A license can be secured at the Recorder's office. The bride and the groom should be present at the same time when they apply for a license. A license has a 90-day validity period. The license is effective if the couple marries within the validity period. After 90 days, the license becomes useless and the couple will have to secure a new one.

To request for the files, you must fill out a request form at the vital records department or you can download it at their website. The request form should be submitted together with a $14 fee and a notarized sworn statement. The department only accepts payments of fees through check or money order. All requirements should be prepared for a request to be accepted. Requesting the files at the department is time-consuming, usually reaching 6 months for every request. If you want to get the files faster, head to the Recorder's Office.

The records can now be obtained online as well through private service providers. There service providers are authorized by the court to disseminate public records, including marriage records, to the public. They maintain a database that is linked with the database of the government so that their records are identical to that of the government's.

There are a number of service providers that keep Records of Marriage. If you are unaware of the exact state to search on, there are service providers that allow you to do a nationwide search. Just make sure that you do a background check on various service providers so that you will have an idea if they a good track record or not. Also, there are two kinds of service providers: those that provide the records for free and those that render corresponding fees for their services. Regardless of what kind you choose, you will be provided with the basic pieces of information of a marriage record, except those that render fees have the ability to provide more than the basic ones.




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