Throughout history, the vows bound in love and commitment exchanged by a husband and his wife has been an illustrious event for mankind. Marriage is a pivotal point in a person's life as it is shrouded with higher and more demanding responsibilities. Marriages are also bound by aspects outside the individual aspects of a person; as such events are vital tools for statistical and legal intentions.
The presence of a marriage license or certificate means that a couple's marital vows have been legalized. Such document entitles them to assume new legal obligations as a married couple. A marriage certificate usually contains details such as who married who, the date and the place the marriage took place, the officiating body, and all witnesses. Marriage licenses are normally signed by the couple and the one who married them after the marriage ceremony. These documents are then filed by the officiating authority for the couple. As public documents, marriage records have many uses. For instance, it is a requirement to change one's name, conduct genealogy studies, divorce proceedings, and protect adulterous, minor and incestuous unions, besides other purposes.
The chief archiving and issuing institution for Wisconsin marriage records and other vital documents is the Wisconsin Vital Services division, a partition of the State's Department of Health Services.
There are two categories of marriage certificates that are housed within the marriage archives of the Vital Services Division - Certified and Uncertified. The former can only be procured by the married couple, their parents, siblings, children, and grandparents, an appointed proxy authorized by any of the above persons, and anyone who can prove that the said record can defend the right of a person or a property. Uncertified marriage licenses, on the other hand, are available for public acquisition, and only serve one purpose - to inform. These two types of marriage documents can be distinguished from each other as certified records are printed in security paper and are issued with a raised seal and are signed by the State Registrar, while uncertified copies are printed in plain white paper.
According to Wisconsin State Laws, applying for a copy of a marriage record or any other public document is exclusively done in person, via mail or by fax. All three ways of application will require a person's identification in order to proceed. Accepted identification documents include Wisconsin-issued driver's licenses and ID cards, passports, current health insurance cards, among others. One must present the original required identification documents when applying in person, and copies of the same documents if applying by mail or by fax. Each exclusive method has its corresponding processes and payments. For requests done in person, the regular or expedited service can be implored. Requests under the regular service are processed within two hours, and are charged at $20.00 with an additional $3.00 for each copy requested at the same time. The expedited service on the other hand can process requests within 15-30 minutes and costs the same as requests utilizing the regular services with an additional $20.00. Uncertified copies requested using either method will be processed within three months. The cost is the same if you obtain a certified or an uncertified copy. Processing times for requests per mail is around a month up to three months for certified and uncertified copies, respectively, and has an identical cost with a regular request done in person. Entreaties done via fax are charged like an in person expedited service with an additional $6.00 for credit card processing, and is sent within five business days.
Today's technology has made public records much closer to the public grasp. Within a few minutes, the record that you are seeking can be seen and requested after performing a quick search in the database of the online records solution of your choosing. With significantly lower processing times, one can be sure of fast and accurate results that can save tons of effort, time and money. Such online innovations are of big help specifically if the marriage record is needed for any urgent matters.
The presence of a marriage license or certificate means that a couple's marital vows have been legalized. Such document entitles them to assume new legal obligations as a married couple. A marriage certificate usually contains details such as who married who, the date and the place the marriage took place, the officiating body, and all witnesses. Marriage licenses are normally signed by the couple and the one who married them after the marriage ceremony. These documents are then filed by the officiating authority for the couple. As public documents, marriage records have many uses. For instance, it is a requirement to change one's name, conduct genealogy studies, divorce proceedings, and protect adulterous, minor and incestuous unions, besides other purposes.
The chief archiving and issuing institution for Wisconsin marriage records and other vital documents is the Wisconsin Vital Services division, a partition of the State's Department of Health Services.
There are two categories of marriage certificates that are housed within the marriage archives of the Vital Services Division - Certified and Uncertified. The former can only be procured by the married couple, their parents, siblings, children, and grandparents, an appointed proxy authorized by any of the above persons, and anyone who can prove that the said record can defend the right of a person or a property. Uncertified marriage licenses, on the other hand, are available for public acquisition, and only serve one purpose - to inform. These two types of marriage documents can be distinguished from each other as certified records are printed in security paper and are issued with a raised seal and are signed by the State Registrar, while uncertified copies are printed in plain white paper.
According to Wisconsin State Laws, applying for a copy of a marriage record or any other public document is exclusively done in person, via mail or by fax. All three ways of application will require a person's identification in order to proceed. Accepted identification documents include Wisconsin-issued driver's licenses and ID cards, passports, current health insurance cards, among others. One must present the original required identification documents when applying in person, and copies of the same documents if applying by mail or by fax. Each exclusive method has its corresponding processes and payments. For requests done in person, the regular or expedited service can be implored. Requests under the regular service are processed within two hours, and are charged at $20.00 with an additional $3.00 for each copy requested at the same time. The expedited service on the other hand can process requests within 15-30 minutes and costs the same as requests utilizing the regular services with an additional $20.00. Uncertified copies requested using either method will be processed within three months. The cost is the same if you obtain a certified or an uncertified copy. Processing times for requests per mail is around a month up to three months for certified and uncertified copies, respectively, and has an identical cost with a regular request done in person. Entreaties done via fax are charged like an in person expedited service with an additional $6.00 for credit card processing, and is sent within five business days.
Today's technology has made public records much closer to the public grasp. Within a few minutes, the record that you are seeking can be seen and requested after performing a quick search in the database of the online records solution of your choosing. With significantly lower processing times, one can be sure of fast and accurate results that can save tons of effort, time and money. Such online innovations are of big help specifically if the marriage record is needed for any urgent matters.
About the Author:
Free Marriage Records possible? Yes and no. You can conduct Free Marriage Records Search but you must pay for their reports. It's still better than nothing.
