California Free Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


The Freedom of Information Act has mandated the government of each state to let its residents to access their personal documents. CA marriage records have been made public since then.

Residents of California request for a copy of their marriage certificate to use for a number of reasons. One of the most common uses is for genealogy research. The document contains information that is necessary for updating the family tree. Government transactions would also call for a copy of this document when a couple request for some processes in a government office. Requests involving the finances and properties of the couple would usually call for such document to proceed. When a married couple decides to separate, they have to present their marriage certificate in order to process the separation.

The information that can be found on a California marriage record originally has only the basic details such as the names of the bride and the groom and the details as to when and where they got married. Also, the names of the witnesses and the official who declared them husband and wife are indicated on the file. Now, this has been expanded. A marriage certificate now would have the maiden name of the bride and the personal information of the couple such as their birth details, occupations, address and nationality. Furthermore, marriage certificates now would contain the names of the parents of the couple along with their birth details.

The state of California has started to document marriages that took place since the 1850's, but the records that are available for retrieval are only those from July 1905. However, certificates filed from 1987 to 1995 are not indexed by the state so this has to be requested at the county where the couple had their marriage. One has to pay $14 for the processing fee to proceed with the request at the Vital Records Section in the Department of Health. If the request is made at the county, fees may differ. To make a smooth retrieval process, it is recommended to indicate on the request form all possible information that you know about the record being requested. The state office also accepts mail request but it is not the fastest method to get such document.

The Internet now allows the retrieval of a marriage certificate online. This can greatly saves one time and energy since the search can be done even without leaving home and the results are obtained in just seconds instead of days. This is the reason why most of the residents of California prefer to conduct the search through the Internet.

Many websites now offer to obtain the document for you. Some would allow you to get marriage records free of any charges, while others can only do the search after you pay for the processing fee online. There are websites lets their users test their system before they are urged to pay. It is up to the user if they want to pay for the service or not.




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