California Marriage License Free Copy Online

Birth, death, marriage and divorce records are important documents because they are issued by the government and thus have the authority or validity to serve as supporting documents. Marriage License California, for one, can serve to establish a person’s identity; it can also prove the legitimacy of any child born under the marriage. For some, these records can also contain information that may be relevant to a person searching for his or her ancestors or genealogical family. Now, to be able to obtain these records, the law usually requires an affinity or relationship between the parties involved and the person requesting the information. An example would be one requesting for marriage records California. Marriage records are categorized into 2 – authorized and informational. They contain the same information but authorized copies can serve as valid documents whereas the informational copy is for information purposes only and cannot be used as a supporting document.  Authorized copies are restricted whereas informational copies are available to the public.
To get a copy of the marriage records, one can check the State’s Vital Records division. The office contains marriage indexes ranging from 1949 – 1986 and 1998- 1999.  Indexes are not certified copies but contain information where the marriage certificate was issued and the parties in the marriage. For certified copies, one can check out the County Recorder or the Clerk of the County Office. Marriage records are of two types – public and confidential marriage records. Public marriage records are available from the County Recorder’s office.
For private or confidential marriage certificates, one can check out the County of the Clerk’s Office. Confidential records are restricted to the registrants themselves. The cost of the marriage indexes from the State is about $14; however, the cost may differ from one county to another. It is best practice to call the office to get the latest fee schedule. 
Under the State Law (California Health and Safety Code 103526), the only people who are allowed to get a copy of authorized marriage records are those who have a relationship with the parties and those that are requesting in the performance of their duty or employment. This can be the parents, kids, siblings, spouse, law enforcers and those that are authorized to act in the parties’ behalf. 
To get a copy of the records, download the form available from the site and include all the necessary documents. The sworn statement must be notarized and incomplete requests will not be processed. Payments should also be attached to the request form. Payment can be made via US drawn checks or money orders. The State’s Vital Records division and some counties do not accept cash and credit card payments.
The processing of the request(s) can take up to 6 months because of the high volume of request the office receives every day. For those who urgently need the records, they can contact the County Clerk office or they can also access online vendors that provide such services.  Marriage and divorce records are available from online public search portals and this is the fastest way that one can obtain their records without having to visit the county clerk’s office.