Tuesday, April 22, 2014

New York Public Marriage Records

By Ben Kingsley


The Freedom of Information Act is implemented by the state of New York which allows the residents of a given state the freedom to obtain a copy of any of their personal files. With this, records of marriage in New York have been made open to the public.

There are several reasons why the residents of New York request for a copy of a marriage certificate. Genealogy is one of the primary reasons for requesting a copy of a marriage certificate. The information that can be found on the certificate is necessary in updating the family history records. Government offices would also require marriage certificates when processing transactions. Certain transactions in the government would use marriage certificates as documents to prove the identity and status of the one who filed the request. Transactions involving the finances of the couple such as insurance would require such document. Conducting a background check on the marital status of an individual would also use the marriage certificates. Individuals who are planning to get married do this before marriage to make sure that they are going to marry a person with is really single.

As the name suggest, marriage certificates contain details of the marriage of a couple. One can find the complete names of the bride as well as the groom. Some of their personal details like their birth date and place are also indicated on the document. The document would also show where and when the couple got married. The marriage is not considered valid without the names of the witnesses and the parents of the couple.

The office of the Vital Records Section manages the marriage records of New York. A $30 processing fee has to be paid in order to proceed with the retrieval of a marriage certificate. The state releases only marriage certificates which have been registered since 1881. However, the counties of Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers only release copies of the marriage certificates from the respective county clerk office only. Processing fees would also vary depending on the county.

To get a copy of a marriage certificate in New York, one has to fill out the request form with the basic details of the record being requested. It is also important to indicate one's contact details on the request form since it will be used to verify their identity. The state only releases the document to the owner of the file and their immediate relatives. One can get the document after several hours but in cases where problems during the search are encountered, it can extend to days or even weeks.

New York marriage license is now available online. This makes the retrieval faster and hassle free. One can even get a copy of the document even without leaving home. The search can be done in just seconds instead of hours or days.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment