Are There Free Marriage Records?

Marriage records fall under the realm of vitalrecords, along with birth records and deathrecords. They are a public record, and therefore,are available and free to the public. However,marriage records, which are under the state’sjurisdiction, are kept in large depositories that aregenerally maintained by the county clerk or countyoffice.

Because these depositories aremaintained, you generally must pay asmall fee to access marriage records.This fee, which generally is no more than$25, covers the administrative costs ofresearching and locating marriagerecords.

Therefore, regarding the question of whether marriage records are free, the answer is

both yes and no.

Other Marriage Records Resources

However, if you are merely searching forinformation about an individual’s marriage, andnot the actual marriage certificate, you may beable to locate information through other sources,such as church records and newspaperannouncements. Many individuals are also ableto find important marriage information throughan individual’s obituary.

Taking Your Search to the InternetIf you don’t know where to begin your search or if you are

lacking key information that is generally necessary to request amarriage record, then you may want to take your search to theInternet. There are a great number of resources on the Web –some of them are free, and some of them require a small fee orsubscription. If you head directly to the free marriage recordwebsites, you may be quite disappointed with the quality of theinformation they provide. Many of these websites are also quitemisleading, as they advertise free searches that, in reality, turninto quite expensive searches.

For example, many of the freemarriage records websites perform a smallgeneral search that yields very littleinformation; then, if you want to go anyfurther, they request costly fees.

Where to Turn for Reputable Records On the other hand, there are a number of reputable

websites that are designed to help individuals locate marriagerecords. These websites, such as www.archives.com, take theproper channels to produce results and therefore charge a feeto do so. Many times, this fee is to cover the cost of theirsearches, and it may also cover the cost of obtaining marriagerecords through the proper channels, such as the countyclerk. And, of course, as mentioned before, even obtainingmarriage records through your local courthouse will cost youa nominal fee.

If you are interested in obtaining accurate,detailed information, consider using a reputable,trustworthy website, such aswww.archives.com. Reputable websites oftenhave easy-to-use search tools that eliminate thehassle of coming up empty handed; instead, theyoffer full records access and easy retrieval ofmarriage records.

If you are searching for marriage recordsand need the most up-to-date and accurateinformation, then start with a free trial towww.archives.com. Reputable onlineresources can provide you with all theimportant information you seek – right fromthe comfort of your home.

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