California Marriage And Divorce Records

By Ben Kingsley


For those who require supporting documents to prove their identity or change of status, a marriage record is an excellent supportive document, as it is issued by a government agency. Marriage records have no expiry just like birth, death and divorce records and can serve a person well. They can use the document to prove a child's legitimacy, to be able to change one's name, and as a genealogy document to add to family history. To obtain marriage records California, it is best to know if you are eligible to get an authorized or an informational copy of the marriage certificate. Informational copies are available to the public and serves only as informational copy, meaning that any third person or parties can access the record. However, it does not have any power and cannot serve as a valid document. An authorized document, on the other hand, can serve as a supporting document and access is limited to several individuals only.

To get a copy of the marriage records, one can check the State's Vital Records division. The office contains marriage indexes ranging from 1949 - 1986 and 1998- 1999. Indexes are not certified copies but contain information where the marriage certificate was issued and the parties in the marriage. For certified copies, one can check out the County Recorder or the Clerk of the County Office. Marriage records are of two types - public and confidential marriage records. Public marriage records are available from the County Recorder's office.

For private or confidential marriage certificates, one can check out the County of the Clerk's Office. Confidential records are restricted to the registrants themselves. The cost of the marriage indexes from the State is about $14; however, the cost may differ from one county to another. It is best practice to call the office to get the latest fee schedule.

Those who are eligible for authorized copies under the California Health and Safety Code include the parties indicated in the certificate, parents or legal guardians, their kids or grandchildren, husband or wife, adoption agencies and law officers who need the document in the performance of their work.

To request for the copies, those requesting will have to submit an official request form that they can obtain from the CDPH site or the County Clerk site. All requests must include a notarized sworn statement for authorized copies of the record. The application will not be processed if the form and notarized statement is not included. Payments should be included in the requests as well. Payment can be made via money orders or checks, which are drawn from one of the US Banks. Money orders can be obtained from the USPS as well. Cash and credit cards are not accepted.

The processing of the request(s) can take up to 6 months because of the high volume of request the office receives every day. For those who urgently need the records, they can contact the County Clerk office or they can also access online vendors that provide such services. Marriage and divorce records are available from online public search portals and this is the fastest way that one can obtain their records without having to visit the county clerk's office.




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