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mercredi 4 décembre 2013

California Public Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


Marriages in California vital records are available from the State's Department of Public Health Vital Records division. These records are important as it can establish the parties' identities as well as be used as supporting document for the parties in case of spousal benefits, death and early retirement benefits. The Division provides two types of certified copies: authorized copy and informational copy.

Under the California State Law, authorized copies are copies that can establish a person's identity and serve as supporting document. As such only, a limited number of individuals are allowed to obtain such copies. These individuals are the parties named in the record themselves, relatives or those with affinity with the registrant including parents, legal guardians, siblings and children. Others that are eligible include law enforcement agencies that require such copies in the performance of their jobs, attorneys with court order, entities appointed by the law and funeral agents or funeral establishment. For those who are not eligible they can still get a copy. They can request for an informational copy, which contains the same information as that of that authorized copies. The only different between the two is that the "informational" copy contains a legend indicating that the copy is not to be used as supporting document to establish the person's identity. Both copies are certified true copies.

For those who want to obtain a marriage certificate from the CDPH Records Division, one must include with their application form a notarized sworn statement as well as payment for the record. Each marriage record certificate costs about $14. For Dissolution of Marriage Certificate, cost is $13. For those who require amendments to their marriage certificate, an affidavit to amend a marriage certificate costs about $20. In certain instances, the department waives the fee for amendment.

Processing time ranges from 6 months onwards for marriage certificates and 2 months for amendments as the Department is experiencing heavy volume of requests. For marriages that took place recently, processing time can be shortened as the certificates are already imaged and retrieval is faster. Those who need the copies can also go to the County Recorder Office to request for their certificates. Cost and fees for the copies are different and might vary from one county to another.

The first step in obtaining a marriage certificate is to determine if the record is available from the CDPH Vital Record Division. The Office provides public and confidential marriage records. Confidential records are only obtainable by the two parties named in the certificate and are only available from the County Clerk's Office. Download the pamphlet available from the Records Division. Once all the requirements are met, send the application form, notarized sworn statement and the fee to the CDPH Office. Only checks and money order drawn from a US bank or issued by the USPS are accepted. For no records, the Office will release a Certificate of No Public Records to the person requesting the copies. Fees are not refundable. Send the entire document to the address of the office through mail or through courier.

As processing can take quite some time due to the volume that the Office is receiving, another way to obtain marriage and divorce records is by checking the County Recorder's Office as well as the Superior court office. One can also access basic information from the internet, which is another way to obtain records conveniently.




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