Public Marriage Records

It’s well-documented that the majority of people who divorced remarry. About 1 in 3 of the millions of marriages in the US every year is believed to involve a remarriage on the part of at least one of the partners. What percentage of these folks will come clean with their marital past? Logically speaking, people shouldn’t leave it to chance in ‘taking the plunge’, not when Conducting a Public Marriage Records is so convenient and easy these days.

Actually, it’s practically impossible for any of us to keep our marital history under wraps. This is because the proper documentation of public records is officially instituted by the government. Among other charters, it is to cater to the right to information of the people per the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act, 1966). Each state has its own version of the Act. There is typically a Data and Statistics unit tasked with providing various categories of public records to its residents. Among them will be those of Marriage.

Together with Divorce, Birth and Death, Marriage records form the Vital Records group at most of the State central repositories. They are basically public information. A small percentage of marriage records are categorized as confidential in which case only the two people on the records can retrieve them. Otherwise, Marriage Records are mandated by law to be made available to any member of the public upon request as long as procedures are followed and the attainment of information is not toward an unlawful or illegitimate purpose.

The information contained in Public Marriage Records includes the personal particulars of the couple and those of their parents and witnesses. Other details that will be produced are the name of the conducting official of the marriage ceremony and the time and place it occurred. The Marriage License and Certificate may also be attached. Multiple marriages of both groom and bride within the same state of search if any will all be presented also.

The most common uses of Public Marriage Records are in background check and verification, Genealogy research and Marriage License application as proof of single-status in order to be eligible to marry. Depending on the particular agency from which the records are requested, they could be obtained in-person, by mail, telephone, fax or the increasingly popular online option accorded by the advent of the Internet. The online option rocks because it’s quick, convenient and you’ll never be caught in the act if you choose to be discreet about it.

Public Marriage Records can be gathered practically free-of-charge (FOC) from government sources in D-I-Y fashion or they can simply be purchased from commercial records providers. Without doubt, the former involves a good deal of effort and time whereas the latter will incur some financial costs. In general, it’s more advisable to employ the paid version especially if time is of the essence and professional standards are needed. Archives.com is a good example. You can get an idea of their class and quality by effortlessly conducting a free preliminary search right here.