| Like other public record categories, marriage | | | | practice nowadays. |
| records are also required to be documented for | | | | You can obtain a great deal of information about |
| future reference. They are useful in a variety of | | | | people through a marriage records search. It |
| ways. For instance, it's a good starting point for | | | | typically includes the personal particulars of the |
| researching one's own family tree or even | | | | couple, their parents and witnesses plus the name |
| Genealogy studies in general. Also, they could be | | | | of the officiant of the marriage ceremony. The |
| needed in the process of filing for a divorce. And | | | | main documents that will be produced are the |
| for those who are getting married, they are all | | | | license and certificate. They will be needed for |
| the more significant especially to the prospective | | | | any legal matter that pertains to the event. |
| spouse. | | | | Per standard practice, there will be three copies |
| It was not easy to get hold of such documents | | | | of the marriage license. The couple, officiant and |
| back in the old days because they were pretty | | | | the local government office tasked with the |
| much handled manually. People had to go to the | | | | function will each have a copy. Nowadays, this |
| local government office and search through piles | | | | information is generally available online but usually |
| of folders for them and they were mostly | | | | only their certified hardcopies are recognized for |
| professional investigators or government officials. | | | | any official purpose. There may be some |
| With the advancement of technology, online | | | | variations on the requirement among the states |
| marriage records have become a norm and any | | | | as public records are governed by state laws. |
| lay-member of the public can easily access them | | | | Of all the different ways to retrieve the |
| over the internet. | | | | information, online marriage records are the most |
| Marriage records are classified as public | | | | popular because it's convenient and discreet. |
| information throughout the country and are | | | | However, not all government agencies provide |
| mandated by law to be accessible by the public. | | | | this channel but most if not all commercial record |
| As a matter of fact, they form the vital record | | | | providers offer it. On top of that, their databases |
| group at the majority of the state office of data | | | | are generally nationwide as opposed to those of |
| and statistics with divorce, birth and death | | | | state repositories which are not linked which that |
| records. Anybody has the right to retrieve and | | | | can get quite onerous when the search extends |
| view them as long as the rules and regulations are | | | | beyond state lines. |
| observed. Marriage records search is a common | | | | |