How To Start Marriage Records Search

By Claire Dowell


It is the task of the California Department of Public Health office to maintain public files as the state's central repository. Amongst the files under their custody are California Marriage Records. Originally, marriage files are come to form at the county clerk of court that issued the marriage license. Once a file is made official, it is then forwarded to state's central repository.

On a marriage document you can find the names of the bride and the groom, when they were born, when and where the marriage transpired, names of their witnesses, and many more. For a marriage document to be considered official, it has to come with a marriage license. The license is only good for 90 days and the bride and groom should get married within that span of time or else they will have to secure another license. Previously married individuals are required to present their final divorce documents on the day they apply for a license to marry.

Marriage files are deemed as either authorized or informational. Do not worry because both can provide you with the basic details of the file and both are certified copies. Authorized marriage files are allowed by the court to be used as a legal document in a legal proceeding while informational marriage files are only meant to provide information. Even though everyone can obtain marriage files, not of all them are given the right to access the authorized copies. Only names that are found on a certain file like the bride and the groom, their respective parents, law enforcers and others, are given the go signal to get authorized copies.

If you want to start a search, you can submit a request at the Department of Public Health office. There is a specific request form intended for marriage documents; secure that one and fill it up with all the necessary information. Include as many pieces of information you know about a file to increase the possibility of finding the exact document and to reduce the search process. If you have an idea which county exactly has the files you need, you may submit your request to that county's clerk of court. Also, if authorized copies of the files are what you need, you will need to prepare a notarized sworn statement and include that with a valid government-issued ID and corresponding fees when you make your request. Fees paid will not be returned regardless on whether the search process becomes successful or not.

There are websites that specialize in supplying marriage files. Look them up over the Internet and be careful not to run into a fake website. Yes, not all can be considered reliable sources of information. Write down a few websites that you consider on using and run a background check on them; gather some information from other users' feedbacks on their services.

There are service providers that offer the records to the public for a certain fee and there those that provide Public Marriage Records Free. Regardless of which type you choose to use, you will be given access to the basic pieces of information regarding a certain marriage record. To start an online search, all you need to provide is the full name of either of the couple. Whether you got the records at a public office or online, the same laws apply on their use. Anyone caught using them to defame, embarrass, harass or blackmail other people will be penalized accordingly by authorities.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment