Searching For California Marriage Records Copies?

Searching For California Marriage Records Copies?

Marriage records are official government documents that confirm a marriage between two people. Since marriage records are as timeless as birth or death records, they are considered valuable supporting documents for a number of reasons. A person can use California marriage records to change her name, prove the legitimacy of the child, serve genealogical purposes, and more. For those who are interested in obtaining marriage records in California, it is important to distinguish whether what they need is an authorized copy or an informational copy of the marriage record. Authorized copies are given to deputies directly to the registrar and can serve as supporting documents, while an informational copy contains the same information, although it is not valid as a supporting document.

To obtain copies of the records, one must determine if the records they seek are available from the California Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, or CDPH. Public marriage indices are available from the Vital Records Division. Those who want a certified copy of a public marriage record should contact or contact the recorder in the county where the marriage was permitted. Public marriages are open to the public. Currently, the CDPH has indices for marriages that occurred between 1949-1986 and 1998-1999; The remaining records are available at the County Recorder's Office.

For confidential marriage records, the records are only available at the county clerk's office. Only two married people can get a copy of the Confidential Marriage Record. Each certified copy costs approximately $ 14 when requested through the state office. The cost of records differs from county to county and as such one must contact the county for an update fee.

Under California Health and Safety Code 103526, those who are eligible to obtain authorized, non-confidential marriage records include the following individuals: registrants, legal guardians or parents, children, brothers or sisters, their spouses, law enforcement officers which they need to document in their docs. Investigations or complaints, adoption centers, and agents or those who require documentation for their employment.

To request copies, applicants must submit an official request form which can be obtained from the CDPH site or the County Clerk's site. All requests must include a notarized affidavit to obtain authorized copies of the records. If the notarized form and data are not included, the request will not be processed. Payment must also be included in applications. Payment can be made by money order or check, which is available in the US Withdrawals are made at any of the banks. Money orders can also be obtained from the USPS. Cash and credit cards are not accepted.

Processing time can be extended beyond 6 months due to the high volume of applications that CDPH receives. For those who urgently need marriage and divorce records, the fastest way to do so is by ordering online. Most states now offer online volunteering for public records. Additionally, other third-party providers also offer public record searches, which are the fastest way to obtain records. There are 58 counties in California and if you don't know where the marriage records were issued, it will take some time to find them. Searching online for free reprint articles will only take a few minutes or hours.