The California Health Department keeps records of California Marriage Records. However, they are not permitted by the court to provide certified marriage records to the public because that task is given to the exact county Clerk of Court that finalized the marriage. It is essential that a marriage is documented because they support the validity of a marriage, they contain the original last name of the bride, and they can also be used to trace the family tree of a person.
Any person has the liberty to request for a copy of public files, including marriage files. A person may request for the files of another person but will only be provided with a marriage certificate. In addition, they also need to ask the consent of the bride and groom to request for the records. Only the bride, the groom, their attorneys, and individuals or groups that have the approval of the court can view or access the full files. Only certified marriage files are allowed by the court to be used in a court hearing. Marriage certificates are only good as sources of reference.
Marriage certificates include the basic details of a marriage such as the names of the couple, place and date of birth, the location of the marriage, etc. Confidential details are not made available to the public to preserve the couple's right to privacy.
Government offices that are tasked of keeping public files have their respective websites. In their database are copies of public files in encoded form. Since the files are in a database, it is easier to find out if a requested file is available or not. Despite having their own websites, it still takes quite some time to retrieve the files, mainly because government offices employ only a handful of people. Fortunately, there online service providers that also keep marriage files. Such online service providers are permitted by the court to provide the files to the public upon request. The files that online service providers keep are the same as what government offices keep.
Online search tools are categorized into two: free online search tools and paid online search tools. Free online search tools provide the basic details of a marriage document. Paid online search tools will also provide the basic details of marriage, plus a lot more as long as they are legally available. You can perform as many searches as you want if you register yourself as a member of a paid online search tool. There is only a one-time payment to become a member. If you are not interested in becoming a member, you are obliged to pay for each document that you search for.
It is important to check if a marriage record has a Marriage License included in it. Without a license, a marriage will not be considered as valid even if a ceremony was carried out. A county Clerk of Court is the public agency in-charge of granting a license. Once a licensed is issued, it will only be effective for 90 days. Once it surpasses that period of time, the license becomes useless and the husband and the wife needs to apply for another one. If a person has been married in the past, a divorce record is required for a license application to be accepted.
Any person has the liberty to request for a copy of public files, including marriage files. A person may request for the files of another person but will only be provided with a marriage certificate. In addition, they also need to ask the consent of the bride and groom to request for the records. Only the bride, the groom, their attorneys, and individuals or groups that have the approval of the court can view or access the full files. Only certified marriage files are allowed by the court to be used in a court hearing. Marriage certificates are only good as sources of reference.
Marriage certificates include the basic details of a marriage such as the names of the couple, place and date of birth, the location of the marriage, etc. Confidential details are not made available to the public to preserve the couple's right to privacy.
Government offices that are tasked of keeping public files have their respective websites. In their database are copies of public files in encoded form. Since the files are in a database, it is easier to find out if a requested file is available or not. Despite having their own websites, it still takes quite some time to retrieve the files, mainly because government offices employ only a handful of people. Fortunately, there online service providers that also keep marriage files. Such online service providers are permitted by the court to provide the files to the public upon request. The files that online service providers keep are the same as what government offices keep.
Online search tools are categorized into two: free online search tools and paid online search tools. Free online search tools provide the basic details of a marriage document. Paid online search tools will also provide the basic details of marriage, plus a lot more as long as they are legally available. You can perform as many searches as you want if you register yourself as a member of a paid online search tool. There is only a one-time payment to become a member. If you are not interested in becoming a member, you are obliged to pay for each document that you search for.
It is important to check if a marriage record has a Marriage License included in it. Without a license, a marriage will not be considered as valid even if a ceremony was carried out. A county Clerk of Court is the public agency in-charge of granting a license. Once a licensed is issued, it will only be effective for 90 days. Once it surpasses that period of time, the license becomes useless and the husband and the wife needs to apply for another one. If a person has been married in the past, a divorce record is required for a license application to be accepted.
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