By Claire Dowell
California's marriage rate only stands at 5 per 1000 people which are very few considering that they are the largest state by population. This according to the California Marriage Records kept and taken care of by the Office of Vital Records of the California Department of Public Health. Marriage documents are essential tool to conduct Genealogical researches, background checks, marital history checks, and many more.
It (the department) will not show if marriages are of the opposite sex or of the same sex. Only marriages recorded from 1949-1986 and 1998-1999 are indexed. For the years not included, seek the help of the County Recorder's office where you can also secure certified copies of marriage documents. The County Clerk's Office where a license of given, is in-charge of the custody of confidential records which are exclusively available to individuals mentioned in the documents.
Certified copies have two kinds name the authorized copies and informational copies. Authorized copies are restricted to whose names are on the files, legal representatives, and other agencies or organizations authorized by the court. Informational copies have the same content as of authorized copies, except they are not official. They can only be used to provide information and not as a legal file.
A charge of $14 per copy is required for every certified copy of the files. Acquiring them at the Department of Public Health entails a long time to be processed at around 6 months. The County Recorder can get you the files sooner. To get a search underway, supply the husband first and last name, wife's first name and maiden name, and the date of the matrimony.
Download a request form and fill out all the required fields to file a request for the records. A sworn statement, signed by you, should be attached together with the request form. If your request is via mail, get the sworn statement notarized. Failure to include the complete sworn statement will result to your request being rejected and will not be processed. Any payments will also not be refunded.
A more effective approach to obtain marriage documents is through professional record keepers. There are sites that require fees and there are some that are for free. You can secure marriage records from either of the two. Those that require fees is a much better option because they have a lot more sources where they can gather more information. The database that they keep is linked to public and private databases. The version of documents that they provide is sorted out to make it simpler to decipher.
It (the department) will not show if marriages are of the opposite sex or of the same sex. Only marriages recorded from 1949-1986 and 1998-1999 are indexed. For the years not included, seek the help of the County Recorder's office where you can also secure certified copies of marriage documents. The County Clerk's Office where a license of given, is in-charge of the custody of confidential records which are exclusively available to individuals mentioned in the documents.
Certified copies have two kinds name the authorized copies and informational copies. Authorized copies are restricted to whose names are on the files, legal representatives, and other agencies or organizations authorized by the court. Informational copies have the same content as of authorized copies, except they are not official. They can only be used to provide information and not as a legal file.
A charge of $14 per copy is required for every certified copy of the files. Acquiring them at the Department of Public Health entails a long time to be processed at around 6 months. The County Recorder can get you the files sooner. To get a search underway, supply the husband first and last name, wife's first name and maiden name, and the date of the matrimony.
Download a request form and fill out all the required fields to file a request for the records. A sworn statement, signed by you, should be attached together with the request form. If your request is via mail, get the sworn statement notarized. Failure to include the complete sworn statement will result to your request being rejected and will not be processed. Any payments will also not be refunded.
A more effective approach to obtain marriage documents is through professional record keepers. There are sites that require fees and there are some that are for free. You can secure marriage records from either of the two. Those that require fees is a much better option because they have a lot more sources where they can gather more information. The database that they keep is linked to public and private databases. The version of documents that they provide is sorted out to make it simpler to decipher.
About the Author:
Looking for California Marriage License Records? We can guide you on choosing the best option with our specialist information about State Marriage Records.. This article, Authentic and Free Marriage Records In California is released under a creative commons attribution license.