Thursday, March 20, 2014

Florida Public Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


Records of marriage in Florida are one of the most requested documents of the state. Since Florida is an open state, the residents can easily request for a copy of such file. The office of the Vital Statistics is responsible for keeping such documents.

The freedom of Information Act has mandated the government of each state to allow its local residents the freedom to access their personal files. Marriage certificates or records are one of the documents that have been opened to the public. Genealogy is one of the primary uses of this document. It has information that is vital n updating the family tree. Such document is used in government transactions.
It serves as a proof of one's identity and marital status. Transactions that involve the couple such as insurance and other financial matters may call for a copy of a marriage certificate. In some cases, marriage records are also used as reference when verifying the marital status of an individual. This is common with people who are in the dating stage of their relationship. They do this to make sure that they are dating an unattached individual.

The first marriage records in the state have very limited information on it. One can only find the names of the couple who got married as well as the place and date when the two got married. Now, the information is expanded. The maiden name of the bride can be found on the file. There are additional information on the document which includes the couple's date and place of birth and work as well as address. Names of the parents and witnesses are also indicated on the document.

Requesting for a copy of the marriage certificate in the state of Florida can be done by personally visiting the office of the Department of Health at the Vital Statistics Section. A $5 processing fee has to be paid in order to conduct the search. Only marriages that have been registered since June 6, 1927 can be obtained from the state office. A request form has to be filled out with the basic details of the file that is being requested as well as the contact details of the one who filed the request.

The county clerk office where the marriage was registered originally should be able to provide a copy of a marriage certificate especially if it was before June 6, 1927. Processing fees at the county office may be different from another county. A mail request an also be sent to the state office but the results of the search can take a while.

By using the Internet to get a copy of marital records, the need to go to any office has been eliminated and the results can be obtained in just seconds instead of waiting for several days. More and more residents of Florida are using the Internet to gain access to the marriage records even without putting much effort into it.




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