Friday, October 31, 2008

State Marriage Records California

By Dave Porter

California Marriage Records contain data on names, licenses and counties for marriage applications. All public marriage records in the state of California are kept by the California Department of Public Health Office of Vital Records. Individual counties issue confidential records pertaining to licenses that were issued out of their office. The same is true for divorce records. They will be found only in the county of which the Superior Court ordered the divorce decree. California's law - The California Public Records Act - mandates that all public records and copies are made available to anyone.

Websites by government agencies provide adequate marriage records free of charge if you are just looking for general information. The same can be accomplished by searching the database on-site at the respective county offices. However, for formal proceedings, you would need professionally packaged official marriage records. The Office of Vital Records is the authorized department to provide official marriage records in California. It can also release divorce Certificates of Record. For both, there is a fee involved when requesting certified copies.

So, we therefore have the choice of going it ourselves in gathering California Marriage Records or hire professional help to perform the task for us. It's an individual thing and each has its own merits and setbacks. Obviously, marriage records from free sources save money but their standards inevitably won't match up to those from fee-based ones. Often too, circumstances demand that such information is obtained through certified bodies thus ruling out the DIY (do-it-yourself) option.

In California, all public records can be viewed at Public Health county offices. They can also be requested via email. The California Department of Public Health Office of Vital Records lists all of the pamphlets, forms and fees necessary to obtain official copies of marriage and divorce records. Unfortunately, obtaining marriage records on your own can sometimes be a lengthy and onerous process. The California Office of Vital Statistics estimates a backlog of six months when processing requests for public marriage records of California and recommends that people go directly to the concerned county offices to view records and request copies of them. Respective counties have different forms, fees and processes to retrieve this information.

Several companies can help you expedite the process of accessing and viewing state public records. They can surely help you order and receive certified copies of marriage records in a much more expeditious manner than people generally can on their own. With information that you supply, these companies can directly fill out forms and make requests for you straight from different counties as their network and infrastructure are in place for it.

The public records business is demanding and competitive. Industry leaders are highly professional and have extensive experience in getting public records from county offices. In order to survive in the game, they have to charge affordable rates also. They will get the forms, enquire the fees and advise on applicable state laws. Many of them have in-house databases of marriage and divorce records for existing or potential customers, completely circumventing the need to wait on government agencies to produce those records.

With over 36 million residents living in California today, on top of the hundreds of millions in years past, there are quite a bit of California marriage records on file and archive. Finding just the ones spot-on is potentially daunting and error-prone for the amateur. In all practicality, it will be worth the cost to hire professionals for the task. After all, the subject of marriage records is hardly ever a trivial matter. - 15437

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