California Free Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


For those individuals who want a certificate of marriage in California, they may get one from the Public Health Vital Record Divisions. These records are usually used to establish and serve as supporting documents to authenticate a person's identity. Some would also use the certified copies to claim spousal benefit, death and retirement benefit. The Records Division issues 2 types of copies - Authorized and Informational. Both are certified copies.

Certified copies are available for those parties including: legal guardian of the registrants, a person authorized by the court to obtain the records in compliance of a particular requirement, member of the government including law enforcement agencies and other government agency and employee of a funeral establishment. Authorized copies are used to establish the person's identity. Informational copies are those copies that are the same as authorized ones; however a written statement, "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY," is indicated.

To obtain a certified copy from the CDPH office, one must fill up an application form as well as have a sworn statement notarized and included in the request. Payment should also be attached to the request. Fees are as follows: Marriage certificates - $14, Dissolution of marriages copies - $13 and Affidavit to Amend Marriage certificate - $20. Fees for amendments may be waived by the Department in certain instances.

Processing time would sometimes exceed a period of six months for certified copies and two months for marriage amendments, which would begin after the Office receives the request. For those who require the documents urgently, they can send in their request at the County Recorder Office where the license was issued. Certified copies fees and other costs might differ from that of the State's office and as such, one should contact the county responsible.

The first step in obtaining a marriage certificate is to determine if the record is available from the CDPH Vital Record Division. The Office provides public and confidential marriage records. Confidential records are only obtainable by the two parties named in the certificate and are only available from the County Clerk's Office. Download the pamphlet available from the Records Division. Once all the requirements are met, send the application form, notarized sworn statement and the fee to the CDPH Office. Only checks and money order drawn from a US bank or issued by the USPS are accepted. For no records, the Office will release a Certificate of No Public Records to the person requesting the copies. Fees are not refundable. Send the entire document to the address of the office through mail or through courier.

As the CDPH is experiencing heavy volume for marriage certificates, processing can take up to 6 months. For those who urgently require marriage and divorce records, they can send their marriage request to the County Recorder's Office and divorce request to the Superior Court Office. One can also check other online search portals that offer searches for private and public records. This is by far the most convenient and fastest way for one to get the information they need.




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