Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Online Public Marriage Records Search Guide

By Claire Dowell


Marriage files in Massachusetts are stored in their Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. The registry has been doing so since 1916. Originally, the files are created at the county where the bride and groom acquired their marriage license. Citizens can place a formal request for Massachusetts Marriage Records at the registry or at the specific county where it was originally created. Every half a decade, the oldest five years of marriage files are handed over to the state archives where they are better safeguarded.

Any member of the general public is allowed to submit a request for marriage records because they are deemed as part of the public domain. However, the privacies of the owners of the records are also protected. A full marriage record is only given to the couple, their legal representatives, and those with authorization from the court. If you want to request the records of another person, you need to specify a valid reason why you are making such request. If your reason is accepted, you will be given access to the basics of the records such as the name of the couple, the date and place of marriage, names of witnesses, and many more. One acceptable reason is if you want to make sure that the person you are about to marry is not involve in another marriage.

Only a finalized marriage document is acknowledged by a court judge as a legal supporting document for court hearings regarding marital matters. In case a marriage becomes a failure and results to the couple wanting to file for a divorce, the final marriage document needs to be presented before a judge. If a marriage document is not deemed as final, the couple need not file for a divorce.

To start your search, supply the full name of the bride or the groom. If a name is widely used, supply more details about the file so there is a better chance of locating the right one. Including your personal contact details and presenting a valid ID issued by the government is also necessary. For a certain amount of money, you can commence a search at the county where the file was initially filed. Whether you acquired the files from the state registry or at a specific county, all payments made are non-refundable regardless of the search results.

There are search tools that you can find online, which have the approval of the court, that specializes in storing and providing marriage documents to the public. There are many search tools out there but not all have the capacity to provide you with valuable information. To gauge the reliability of a search tool, check their backgrounds first by looking at what other people think of their service.

Such websites are either fee-based or those that can provide you with Free Public Marriage Records. Fee-based websites can provide you with an extensive amount of information. Those that do not render any amount of fee can only give the basic pieces of information.




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