California Marriage Records
California has reportedly the lowest marriage rate in the country. It’s the only state with less than 5 marriages per 1,000 people. As the largest state by population (36 million), the number of marriages in absolute terms is nevertheless very sizeable and their records are maintained by the California Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Records. One of the public services is the central registry of California Marriages and Divorces.
There’s no mention of a California State Index of Marriages by its Health Department and it does not appear easy to check on its existence either. The department is forthcoming about its tardiness in processing marriage records (6 months) and recommends that requests for marriage records be alternatively submitted to the county offices where the California Marriage License was originally issued as their processing time are generally much shorter.
The central Office of Vital Records only accepts orders by mail and it does not collect or maintain information about whether a marriage was between opposite or same- sex partners. Certified copies of public marriage records may be obtained from the County Recorder whereas confidential marriage records are only available from the County Clerk’s Office where the license was issued and eligibility is restricted only to the individuals on the Marriage Certificate.
As of July 1, 2003, a sworn statement signed under penalty of perjury and accompanied by certified proof of identity by birth certificate is required to request a certified copy of California Marriage Certificate. In the case of mail request, the sworn statement must be notarized failing which the request will be rejected as incomplete and returned without being processed.
Under the Public Records Act of California, any member of the public has the right to view and get copies of public marriage records at governmental agencies. There is no charge except for further services such as making hardcopies, burning CD or DVD and special computer programming by department personnel. Fees if any are only to cover actual cost of time, labor and any supplies or services needed.
California Marriage Records are accessed for a multitude of uses; Genealogical studies, background verification, supporting official undertaking and so forth but by far the most common purpose for its retrieval is marital history check on a partner or on that behalf. With the convenience of the ubiquitous Internet, it has inevitably become commonplace nowadays especially with commercial providers also staking their claim. They are highly professional, affordable and remarkably handy particularly in the case of multi-state searches. Try out Archives.com right here and you’ll see!