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California Free Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


Marriages in California vital records are available from the State's Department of Public Health Vital Records division. These records are important as it can establish the parties' identities as well as be used as supporting document for the parties in case of spousal benefits, death and early retirement benefits. The Division provides two types of certified copies: authorized copy and informational copy.

Certified copies are available for those parties including: legal guardian of the registrants, a person authorized by the court to obtain the records in compliance of a particular requirement, member of the government including law enforcement agencies and other government agency and employee of a funeral establishment. Authorized copies are used to establish the person's identity. Informational copies are those copies that are the same as authorized ones; however a written statement, "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY," is indicated.

Each marriage record request costs about $14. For those who need a copy of Dissolution of marriage, the cost is $13. For affidavit to amend marriage certificate, the fee is $20 but this can be waived in certain instances. All requests must include the request form, a notarized sworn statement and a money order or check for payment. The Department does not accept cash and is not responsible for lost transactions.

Processing time ranges from 6 months onwards for marriage certificates and 2 months for amendments as the Department is experiencing heavy volume of requests. For marriages that took place recently, processing time can be shortened as the certificates are already imaged and retrieval is faster. Those who need the copies can also go to the County Recorder Office to request for their certificates. Cost and fees for the copies are different and might vary from one county to another.

The CPDH also issues only public types of marriage certificates. For those who want a confidential marriage certificate, they can make their request at the County clerk office that issued the marriage license. To request from the CDPH, download the pamphlet available at the site and together with the supporting documents and send the forms by mail or courier. Keep in mind that the Office only accepts checks or money orders issued from USPS and US bank. Fees are not fundable and in cases where no results are found, the Office will release a No Public Record Certificate.

As the CDPH is experiencing heavy volume for marriage certificates, processing can take up to 6 months. For those who urgently require marriage and divorce records, they can send their marriage request to the County Recorder's Office and divorce request to the Superior Court Office. One can also check other online search portals that offer searches for private and public records. This is by far the most convenient and fastest way for one to get the information they need.




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