Missouri Free Marriage License Records

By Claire Dowell


The state of Missouri has allowed its local residents to access public documents in accordance to the Freedom of Information Act. Missouri marriage records are one of the documents that have been opened to the public. A marriage record is made once a couple decides to get married.

One of the common information that can be found on a marriage record of any state is the name of the couple who got married. Important information such as the date and the place where the couple got married can also be found on the marriage certificate. Additional information such as the names of couple's parents and those who witnessed the ceremony are indicated on the marriage certificate. Details about past marriages of either the bride or the groom are indicated on the file.

Marriage records are primarily used as references in genealogy research. It is one of the needed files when processing transactions with the government such as property and insurance. The government also uses this record to track the population and the family of a certain state. In rare cases, marriage records are used to check out the marital status of their partners to make sure that they are dating an unmarried individual.

Only records from July 1948 can be obtained from the office of the Vital Records Section. Files before that are managed at the office of the county clerk where the marriage took place. The retrieval of the marriage certificate in Missouri has a charge and the charge is not the same for all counties. When requesting for a marriage certificate, one is required to indicate the names of the couple as well as the date of marriage on the application form. By doing so, the search can be made faster and easier. The one who seeks the document is also required to provide their basic information for documentation purposes.

The office of the Vital Records Section of the apartment of Health is where all public documents of Missouri are being managed. This includes the marriage files of the state. Aside from going to the office, one can do the request over the phone or through mail order. If one chooses these remote options, then the payment and the form still has to be sent to the office. One may need to wait for a longer time to get the result of the request.

One can search marriage records at the office of the Vital Records; however, the search can be hastened when it is done through the Internet. The search can be done even at home so there is no need to go to any office at all, thus it is faster and convenient. This is the reason why the people of Missouri choose to search for the marriage record over the Internet.




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