Florida Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


The Florida Office of Vital Statistics is the office in-charge of maintaining Public Florida Marriage Records. Their office has been maintaining the files since the 6th of June 1927. Files of marriages that occurred prior to that date can only be found at the exact county Clerk's office or church where the wedding took place.

The public is given the right to access marriage documents because they are deemed as public documents. The documents are the only documents recognized by the court to support the authenticity of a marriage. If a person intends to get a divorce, marriage documents are part of the requirements. Some people make use of the documents to check if the person that they are about to get married to is not involve in another marriage.

In order to make a request, you must be aware of the full names of either the bride or the groom. You must also include the date and place of their marriage. Providing your contact information is also needed. Obtaining marriage documents from the Office of Vital Statistics is not for free. There is a fee of $5 for the first copy and $4 for every extra copy. If the documents you wish to obtain are not located or do not exist, you will not be given a refund. And the time it takes to process transactions is normally two to three weeks. If you think two to three weeks is too long and you want to have them in your hands a lot sooner, you can avail of a rush service. Choosing a rush service will get you the documents you need in not more than three business days.

A couple must secure a marriage license so that their marriage can be considered legal. Both the bride-to-be and the groom-to-be must be present at the time of the application for the license. Both parties must present a valid ID that is issued by the government and it should contain their full name, age, and signature. If one of the couple is under the age of 21, a written consent from the parents should be provided. The cost for applying for a license is $93.50. The issued license is valid for 90 days, which means that the couple make use of the license within that span of time. However, they must wait at least three days before they can proceed with the matrimonial rites.

It will not be easy to locate the files if you are not aware where exactly they are kept. Luckily, you can start an online search with the help of various search tools. You can search the web for search tools that specialize in providing public files. Make sure that you check the credibility of a search tool before you avail of their services. You can refer to user reviews, if you can find any, because they reveal what previous and current clients think of their service.

Marriage License Records are also available online. If you are requesting your own files, the process is relatively easy. If you are requesting the files of another person, you will have a harder time getting them because usually they are made available only to the husband and the wife, their lawyers, and any other entity that has the approval of the court to obtain them.




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