Tuesday 11 February 2014

California Marriage And Divorce Records

By Ben Kingsley


California is an open state which means that the residents of the state have access to their personal documents. CA marriage records are one of the documents that have been opened according to the Freedom of Information Act.

Marriage records in California are vital documents in genealogy. Once an individual marries, the family tree has to be updated in a timely manner. Aside from genealogy, a marriage certificate is also required when processing transactions in the government. These transactions includes, but not limited to, insurance or financial related matters as well as the declaration of properties and assists of a couple. Ironically, a marriage certificate is needed when filing for separation.

The information that can be found on a California marriage record originally has only the basic details such as the names of the bride and the groom and the details as to when and where they got married. Also, the names of the witnesses and the official who declared them husband and wife are indicated on the file. Now, this has been expanded. A marriage certificate now would have the maiden name of the bride and the personal information of the couple such as their birth details, occupations, address and nationality. Furthermore, marriage certificates now would contain the names of the parents of the couple along with their birth details.

The state of California has started to document marriages that took place since the 1850's, but the records that are available for retrieval are only those from July 1905. However, certificates filed from 1987 to 1995 are not indexed by the state so this has to be requested at the county where the couple had their marriage. One has to pay $14 for the processing fee to proceed with the request at the Vital Records Section in the Department of Health. If the request is made at the county, fees may differ. To make a smooth retrieval process, it is recommended to indicate on the request form all possible information that you know about the record being requested. The state office also accepts mail request but it is not the fastest method to get such document.

To avoid any delay in the retrieval process, one can take advantage of the Internet since marriage records of California can now be obtained online. This method helps obtain the document without putting much effort into it since the document can be requested at home and in just a few clicks on the mouse, the results of the search are displayed.

There are a lot of websites out there that offers to get the document for you. By using these websites, one can save time in looking up for the information on your own. One can even get a copy of marriage records free of charge. There are websites that lets its users test their system for a certain period even without paying a cent. With this, the users would have plenty of time to decide if they wish to continue with the service or not.




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