Florida Marriage And Divorce Records

By Ben Kingsley


Marriage certificates are vital records. Pursuant to the Public Records Law, all state agencies and institutions are accountable for the citizenry. This is tantamount to the notion that vital records are public and are henceforth accessible by any member of the state who wishes to. Should you want to obtain a record of marriage in Florida, be it your own or that of others for the purpose of background checks, you can request access to such records from the Department of Health or from the Circuit Clerk's Office.

The central repository for vital records in the Sunshine State is the Bureau of Vital Statistics which operates under the Department of Health. Marriage records can be acquired from this office. However, marriages recorded prior to 1927 are only available at the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where you got your marriage permit.

Fortunately, the state's jurisdiction has not implemented any restrictions when demanding for copies of vital records. In accordance with the Public Records Law, all state agencies and institutions are held responsible for the public. This statement, by and large, means that all vital registers, including marriage records, are therefore public and can be accessed by any member of the public who needs such so long as the event took place in the state. When requesting for a marriage record in Florida, an application form must be filled out with all the necessary details. This form can be downloaded online of obtained directly from the agency's office.

It is easy to rout out the needed information when you know the essential details of the event. Knowing when the marriage transpired helps you determine which agency you should pay a visit to. Also, with all the important details on hand, you can organize and maximize your time and you can get the marriage record you need fast. Significant information that you must provide in the request form are the complete names of the couple, the wife's maiden name, date and county of marriage, and the county where the marriage license was provided. You must also provide your personal details as the one requesting the record and the reason of the procurement.

Once the application or request form is completed, submit it to any of the agency mentioned above along with the corresponding payment. Each copy of a marriage certificate in the State of Florida is worth $5 and another $4 for each additional certification of the same record when ordered at the same time. If you are not sure as to when the marriage happened, you can provide a range of years to be searched. You are to pay $2 for each year searched. A maximum of $50 is allowed which means you can go as high as 25 years. Bear in mind that these fees are non-refundable regardless if the marriage record you requested is found or not. These fees remain as payment search thus it cannot be refunded. In case the marriage record you ordered is not located, a "certified not found" statement will be provided. Marriage record requests take 2 to 5 business days to be processed.

Should you wish to access marriage archives in a fast and expedient way, you can actually do it online and even in the comfort of your own home. Simply search for independent online record providers, do a quick background check on each of them, and hire the services of the one you think is best. Service providers in the web range from free to fee based. However, if you're the kind of person who does not only want to cut cost but also ensure the quality of the results, then you're better off with the one that charges a minimal fee but yield comprehensive and accurate records.




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