California Marriage Records Available Online

By Claire Dowell


The state of California is an open state since the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. This means that the local residents of the state can freely access their public documents. California Marriage Records is just one of the many files which have been opened to the local residents of the state.

There are several reasons why the people request for a copy of their marriage certificates. One of the primary reasons is that it is used to update the family tree. This is called genealogy research. The information that can be found on a marriage certificate is necessary when updating the family records since one would be able to identify their origins and know about their ancestors. Marriage records are also used in dealing with government request. There are some requests that may require one to present their marriage certificate as proof of their claim. This can be insurance related transactions.

A marriage certificate is the documentation of the marriage of a couple. This document would contain information about when and where the marriage took place. The personal information of the bride and the groom are also indicated on the record. This includes their birth information and the names of their parents. One can also find the names of the witnesses on the marriage certificate.

Marriage records of California may be considered as a public document of the state but only people who have authority can access such documents. These can be the bride or the groom and their immediate relatives. Others may obtain a record of other individuals but an authorization letter with the consent of either the bride or the groom has to be presented. It is necessary to completely fill out the request form with the important information to help hasten the search process. One should also indicate their personal information on the form which will be used for documentation reasons.

A $14 processing fee is needed in order to obtain a copy of a marriage license in California. Marriages which have been registered since July 1905 is the only files that can be obtained from the office of the Vital Records Section. Certificates from 1987-1995 are not available at the state office. This and files before 1905 can be requested at the local county clerk office where the marriage happened. A mail request can be send if going to any office is not possible. However, one is expected to wait longer since the record may be sent several days from the time it was requested. The long wait time can be avoided with these of the Internet.

Requesting for marriage licenses online is now available. This has made the retrieval process of such documents a breeze. With this, there is no need to go to any office just to file the request. One can request for the record anywhere that has Internet connection and the results are displayed in a matter of seconds instead of days. There are a lot of websites that offer to do the search for you. Some may do it for free while others would require a reasonable service fee. It is recommended to go for the paid search to ensure quality of the results and the accuracy of the information.




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