New York Free Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


Marriage records in New York is one of the most accessed documents in the state. Marriage certificates are now easy to obtain after the Freedom of Information Act has been implemented nationwide.

Marriage record is used by the residents of New York for several purposes. Genealogy research is the top reason for accessing such file. The document is used as reference in updating the family records. There are some transactions in the government that would call for a marriage certificate. Such transactions are mostly related to the finances of an individual like insurance. If one cannot present such document, request may not be granted and can also be delayed. One of the unlikely uses of such document is for background check. Some people would heck on the status of their dating partners through such records. This can help them determine the sincerity of a person. By doing this, marriage application can go smoothly if they plan to go in that direction.

Details about the marriage are the highlights of the document. One would find the real names of the couple who get married along with details as to when and where the couple filed their marriage. The birth details of the bride and the groom are also indicated on the record together with the names of the couple's parents. The witnesses are important in marriage application thus; their names are part of a public marriage certificate.

There are guidelines that should be followed when requesting to obtain a copy of a marriage certificate in New York. The one who request for the record should be able to provide the basic details of the marriage. It has to be indicated on the application form along with the contact details of the one who filed the request. The application form would also require one to provide a valid reason for requesting such document. Aside from the application form, it is necessary to have other documents ready such as the photocopy of any government issued ID. This includes the Military ID, driver's license, passport and any other IDs which are recognized by the government. One should know that the document can be obtained only after 12 weeks since it was requested. It can be shortened to at least 4 weeks if priority handling is selected, however, additional fees has to be paid.

Marriages that took place since 1881 are available in the state of New York. If the records are requested to be used for genealogy research, it can only be released if it has reached 50 years on the archive. A fee of $30 has to be paid in the retrieval process. However, fees would vary in some counties. Counties such as Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers have to be requested at the county offices.

To avoid any hassle when requesting for records of marriage in the state of New York, one can do the search through the Internet. Through this technology, there is no need to wait and put much effort in the process. Most of the websites had their servers connected and linked to each other in order to give the closest possible results. This is evident in paid searches.




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