Saturday, 27 September 2014

California Marriage Records And Other Public Documents

By Claire Dowell


California is an open state. This means that records of marriage in California are considered as public documents. Residents of California then have the freedom to access the files anytime that they need the marriage certificate.

California marriage records are one of the sources of information when conducting a genealogy research. It contains information necessary in updating the family history. Transactions in the government would also call for a copy of a marriage certificate. Marriage certificates serve as proof of one's civil status especially when updating the government records and when dealing with insurance matters. The document is also used by people who are checking the marital status of an individual. This is done by people who are in a relationship. They check on their partner's status before engagement or marriage.

A lot of information can be obtained for a copy of a marriage certificate in California. One would know the maiden name of the bride as well as the name of the groom. The date and the place where the marriage took place are also indicated on the record. Additional information includes the names of the couple's parents as well as the witnesses to the event.

The office of the Vital Records Section in California is responsible for keeping a copy of all the public documents of the state, including marriage certificates. A processing fee of $14 is needed in order to proceed with the retrieval of a marriage certificate. The state of California only allows retrieval of files from July 1905, except for records between 1987 and 1995. Records from 1987 to 1995 are only available at the county clerk office where the marriage was registered.

There are things that should be kept in mind when requesting for a copy of a marriage record in California. One has to fill out a request form with the basic details of the document that is being requested. Also, the personal details of the one who requested the document has to be indicated on the form, this will be used to verify their identity since the state only allows the residents to request for their personal files. The immediate families of the bride and the groom are also given access but the others would need to have a special permission to access the files of other people. One can send a mail request addressed to the state office which should include the payment in the form of check or money order. Unfortunately, this is not the fastest method to obtain such document. It may take days or weeks depending on the search.

Instead of waiting for several days, marriage license records can now be requested through the Internet. By doing the request online, one can save time and energy since the request can be done at the comforts of your own home and it would only take a few clicks on the mouse to see the results of the search. One can even take advantage of the free search offered by some websites.




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