Florida Public Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


Marriage in Florida or any state needs to be documented. This is in the form of a marriage records kept by the office of the Vital Statistics in the Department of Health. Because Florida is an open state, residents can freely request for the document when they need it.

The freedom of Information Act has mandated the government of each state to allow its local residents the freedom to access their personal files. Marriage certificates or records are one of the documents that have been opened to the public. Genealogy is one of the primary uses of this document. It has information that is vital n updating the family tree. Such document is used in government transactions. It serves as a proof of one's identity and marital status. Transactions that involve the couple such as insurance and other financial matters may call for a copy of a marriage certificate. In some cases, marriage records are also used as reference when verifying the marital status of an individual. This is common with people who are in the dating stage of their relationship. They do this to make sure that they are dating an unattached individual.

Traditionally marriage certificates only contain the names of the bride and the groom as well as the date and the place when they got married. The information that can be found on a marriage certificate has evolved. Now, the maiden name of the bride is shown along with the groom's full name. Details of the marriage still include the date and the place where the marriage took place but additional information such as the names of the couple's parents as well as the witnesses are indicated on the document. Some personal information of the couple is also indicated on the document like the birth details, occupation and address.

Requesting for a copy of the marriage certificate in the state of Florida can be done by personally visiting the office of the Department of Health at the Vital Statistics Section. A $5 processing fee has to be paid in order to conduct the search. Only marriages that have been registered since June 6, 1927 can be obtained from the state office. A request form has to be filled out with the basic details of the file that is being requested as well as the contact details of the one who filed the request.

The county clerk office where the marriage was registered originally should be able to provide a copy of a marriage certificate especially if it was before June 6, 1927. Processing fees at the county office may be different from another county. A mail request an also be sent to the state office but the results of the search can take a while.

Marital records in Florida are now available online. This means that there is no need to go to any office just to file the request since it can be done even without leaving your home. The record can also be obtained in just seconds. This is the reason why the residents of Florida prefer to do the search online.




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