Tuesday 27 January 2015

Florida Marriage Records Open To The Public

By Claire Dowell


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 state of Florida has implemented the Freedom of Information Act which allows the residents to access their personal records without difficulty. One of the documents that have been opened to the public is marriage certificates. Such document is used for a number of reasons. It is one of the resources used when conducting a genealogy research. It has information necessary in updating the family records. Some government transactions may call for a copy of a marriage certificate especially if the requests involve the couple's finances. It is used as proof of one's marital status. Checking out the marital status of an individual during a background check can use the help of a marriage certificate; this is usually done by people who want to make sure that the person they are dating is telling them the truth about their status.

Traditionally marriage certificates only contain the names of the bride and the groom as well as the date and the place when they got married. The information that can be found on a marriage certificate has evolved. Now, the maiden name of the bride is shown along with the groom's full name. Details of the marriage still include the date and the place where the marriage took place but additional information such as the names of the couple's parents as well as the witnesses are indicated on the document. Some personal information of the couple is also indicated on the document like the birth details, occupation and address.

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.

Marital records in Florida are now available online. This means that there is no need to go to any office just to file the request since it can be done even without leaving your home. The record can also be obtained in just seconds. This is the reason why the residents of Florida prefer to do the search online.




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