California Public Marriage Records

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By Ben Kingsley


If you are trying to locate files of Marriage in California, look for them at the vital records department of the California Department of Public Health or at the county Recorder's Office approved the marriage license. All marriage files maintained by the Recorder's Office are also sent to the central file repository which is at the vital records department.

Only the County Recorder's Office is authorized to release the certified authorized copies of the records while the vital records department only provides a certified informational copy. The court does not recognize an informational copy as an official document in a court hearing because they are only intended to provide information. Any member of the public has the right to access informational copies but not everyone can get the certified authorized copies. Certified authorized copies are only given to the husband, the wife, their legal representatives, and other individuals or groups that are specified by the court. An informational copy contains vital pieces of information such as the full names of the husband and the wife, their birthdays, the date and place of marriage, and others. There are pieces of information that are not provided to the public because they are considered as confidential.

A marriage needs to have a license for it to become valid. A couple can acquire one at the Recorder's office. The couple should file for the license together or it will not be granted. A license is only effective for 90 days. Within that 90 days, the couple should be have pushed through with their wedding rites already. If they fail to do so and 90 days since the granting of the license have passed, the couple will have to get another marriage license.

The vital records department has a request form available at their office. The form can also be obtained online from their official website. There is a fee of $14 payable by check or money order for every transaction. The form should be submitted personally to the vital records department together with a notarized sworn statement. All the requirements should be provided or else the request will be denied. Usually, there is a 6-month waiting period before search results are returned. The long wait is due to the small number of employees in public offices. If time is a luxury you do not have, you can also get the documents at the country Recorder's Office.

Today, the files can now be acquired through private websites that have the consent of the court. Anyone can submit a request as long as proper procedures are observed. Files are stored in a database that is linked with that of the government office's official website. Files that are kept by private websites and government offices are pretty much alike.

There are a number of service providers that keep Records of Marriage. If you are unaware of the exact state to search on, there are service providers that allow you to do a nationwide search. Just make sure that you do a background check on various service providers so that you will have an idea if they a good track record or not. Also, there are two kinds of service providers: those that provide the records for free and those that render corresponding fees for their services. Regardless of what kind you choose, you will be provided with the basic pieces of information of a marriage record, except those that render fees have the ability to provide more than the basic ones.




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