California Free Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


CA marriage records better known as California marriage records are one of the many documents of the state that has been opened to the public. This is in line with the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. With this, residents of the state have the freedom to access their marriage licenses anytime they have a need for it.

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.

Back in the old days, there was only little information that can be obtained in a California marriage certificate. One would only know the basics of the marriage like the names of the bride and the groom and the date and place where it took place as well as the names of the witnesses and the officiant. Now, it is a little more complex since it now includes the maiden name of the bride as well as other personal details of the bride and the groom such as their residence address, race, age and occupation during the marriage. Another thing that was added is the name of the couple's parents and their birth place.

Marriage records in California have been available since 1850's but the state only releases certificates since July 1905. This is because of the limited information documented back then. The state has not indexed records between 1987 and 1995. One has to go to the county where the marriage was registered in order to get a copy of the license. A processing fee of $14 has to be paid when requesting it at the office of the Vital Records Section. Fees would vary if the request was made at the county office. In order to get a copy of the marriage license, one has to provide some basic information about the file being requested. By doing so, the retrieval process can go smoothly. Mail request can also be sent to the state office but it usually takes time.

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.

One can choose to get marriage records free or to pay for the retrieval. Several websites lets first time users to test their system without any charges. This lets the user to see what the system can do and it can let them decide whether to look for another site to obtain the marriage certificate or pay for the next use.




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