California Free Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


Marriage records are maintained because they serve as proof that a marriage is valid. The records can also be used to trace the family roots of a person. They also reveal the original family name of the wife. Certified Florida Marriage Records are kept at the specific county of Clerk that granted the marriage. The California Health Department also has copies of the records, but can only provide marriage certificates.

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.

A marriage certificate contains the basic pieces of information regarding a particular marriage such as the name of the husband and the wife, their birth date, birth place, the place where the marriage occurred, and the likes. It is the right of the husband and the wife to keep private the other details of their marriage.

Government agencies that are in-charge of public records have their own official website. In their website is a database where they keep soft copies of the records so that it is faster to determine if a record that a person is requesting for exists or not. Usually, these government agencies are undermanned, and as a result, transactions take longer to process. There are private websites that have the authorization of the court to disseminate public records. These websites also maintain their own database and the records in it are identical to that of the official websites of government agencies.

Private websites are categorized into two kinds: some disseminate the records free of charge and there are those that render corresponding fees. Regardless of which kind you opt to use, you will be provided with the basic pieces of information. But if you choose those that have corresponding fees, you will be given additional information regarding a marriage. If you want to perform multiple searches, it is ideal to register as a member so that you do not have to spend money each time you make a search. But if you are searching for just one or a few records, paying per name searched is more ideal. To become a member, one must pay a one-time membership fee which is good for about a year.

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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