Sunday, September 22, 2013

California Free Marriage Records

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.

Under the California State Law, authorized copies are copies that can establish a person's identity and serve as supporting document. As such only, a limited number of individuals are allowed to obtain such copies. These individuals are the parties named in the record themselves, relatives or those with affinity with the registrant including parents, legal guardians, siblings and children. Others that are eligible include law enforcement agencies that require such copies in the performance of their jobs, attorneys with court order, entities appointed by the law and funeral agents or funeral establishment. For those who are not eligible they can still get a copy. They can request for an informational copy, which contains the same information as that of that authorized copies. The only different between the two is that the "informational" copy contains a legend indicating that the copy is not to be used as supporting document to establish the person's identity. Both copies are certified true copies.

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 varies depending on the volume of requests that the office receives. As the Office is under heavy volume request for marriage certificate, processing can exceed six months for marriage records and two months for amendments. Newer marriages can expect faster processing time as the certificates are already imaged. For those who urgently need the copies, they can also request the County Recorder Office for copies of the certificate. Fees for the copies vary from county to county and such, it is important to call or check the site for the updated fee info.

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.

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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