California Marriage Records Free List Online

By Ben Kingsley


For those individuals who want a certificate of marriage in California, they may get one from the Public Health Vital Record Divisions. These records are usually used to establish and serve as supporting documents to authenticate a person's identity. Some would also use the certified copies to claim spousal benefit, death and retirement benefit. The Records Division issues 2 types of copies - Authorized and Informational. Both are certified copies.

Authorized copies are copies that only certain individuals can obtain and can be used to establish the identity of the parties named in the certificate. Under the California Law, these individuals are those: that have legal affinity to the registrant including their parents or legal guardians, children and siblings, individuals that were handed with a court order such as an attorney or an agency in compliance to the requirements of the Court, law enforcement agencies who need the document in order to conduct their business, those individual(s) appointed by the court to act on behalf of the registrant and those individuals that are agents of a funeral establishment. For those individuals not mentioned above, they are only entitled to obtain an information copy. Informational copies have the same content but have a legend that indicates that it is not a valid document to establish the person's identity.

For those who want to obtain a marriage certificate from the CDPH Records Division, one must include with their application form a notarized sworn statement as well as payment for the record. Each marriage record certificate costs about $14. For Dissolution of Marriage Certificate, cost is $13. For those who require amendments to their marriage certificate, an affidavit to amend a marriage certificate costs about $20. In certain instances, the department waives the fee for amendment.

Processing time would sometimes exceed a period of six months for certified copies and two months for marriage amendments, which would begin after the Office receives the request. For those who require the documents urgently, they can send in their request at the County Recorder Office where the license was issued. Certified copies fees and other costs might differ from that of the State's office and as such, one should contact the county responsible.

To request for a copy of the marriage certificate, one can go to the CDPH Records Division. The office issues public types of marriage certificate. Confidential marriage certificate copies are only accessible by those registrants or parties named in the certificate and available from the clerk office of the county that issued the certificate. The person requesting the certificate should download the pamphlet or guide from the official site and follow the instructions indicated therein. Include the form and other documents together with a money order or check to the Office. Only checks issued by a US bank or of the USPS are accepted. Those requests that are not complete will be returned. Records with no results will be sent a No Public Records Certificate, as fees are not refundable.

Marriage and divorce records are available not only from the CDPH but as well as in the Superior Court (divorce) and County Recorder's Office (marriage). You can also access several online sites that offer the service.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment