Marriage records are public records. They are one of the core Public Vital Records along with Death, Birth and Divorce. It is a very well-searched record category and is available to any member of the public free of charge as long as procedures and requirements are complied with.
Much can be learned about people from their marriage records. The problem with free marriage records from government sources is that they are segregated at state level. That means marriage records documented in one state will not show up if the search is conducted in another. In order to be 100% sure not to have escapees, one would have to go through all the individual state repositories one by one. Fortunately, much of this work can be done electronically these days.
There are both Confidential and Public Marriage Records. The bulk of marriage records fall under the latter category and the information found in these free marriage records typically include personal particulars of the couple, their parents', witnesses' and also the name of the conducting official of the marriage ceremony. Some related records may also show up such as Divorce and Birth Records.
Public Marriage Records are used extensively in Genealogy and other historical studies. They are also used to support legal proceedings by lawyers. Journalists make use of free marriage records to gather information about people. Adopted or separated children are also known to use free marriage records to locate their natural parents. The biggest use of all for free marriage records is by people checking out the marital background of a prospective spouse.
There are different possible ways to request free marriage records. Most public offices tasked with this service will accept write-in, walk-in, telephone and faxed requests. Increasingly, the online option is also becoming available. It is possible too to obtain free marriage records from non-government sources but there are usually strings attached. These are mostly commercial information providers and the good thing about them is that on top of government sources, they have the means to also tap into private and proprietary databases. Competition is keen, and that drives up their standards and value for money for Online Marriage Records.
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