Marriage records are kept locally, by the office that issued the marriage license or recorded the marriage, such as a county clerk, recorder, clerk of court or probate court, depending on the state. Many states also keep a copy or an index at the state vital records office, but only from a certain year on. To find one, it helps to have both people’s names as they were at the time, a rough year and the state or county that issued the license. Whether you can see it depends on the state: Florida issues certified marriage certificates to anyone who asks and pays, while New York limits them to the spouses, people with a documented judicial or other proper purpose, and people with a court order.
There is no national marriage record search. The federal government does not distribute certificates, files or indexes with identifying information for vital records, the CDC’s Where to Write for Vital Records page says, and the National Archives doesn’t hold them either. Start with the state where the marriage took place; the CDC page links to each state’s office.
License, certificate, index or court file: which one you need
The license. A marriage license is permission to marry, and most expire within 30 days to a year if unused, depending on the state, USA.gov notes. A Texas license, issued by the county clerk of any county in the state, expires if no ceremony takes place before the 90th day after it was issued, under the Texas Family Code.
The recorded license or certificate. After the ceremony, the officiant returns the license for recording: in Texas within 30 days, after which the county clerk records it and mails it to the address on the application. In Miami-Dade County, Florida, the clerk mails or hands over a marriage certificate. That recorded document is the proof; as USA.gov puts it, a marriage certificate proves you got married.
The index. Lists of names, dates and places point you to the right county and year, but they aren’t proof: Texas says its statewide indexes “are not themselves legal documents.”
The court file. A divorce decree stays with the court that granted it; in Texas, certified copies come only from the district clerk in that county. The court records guide explains how to look up a case by name.
| Record | What it shows | What it doesn’t show |
|---|---|---|
| License or license application | That a couple applied for, or received, permission to marry | That a ceremony took place, since unused licenses expire |
| Recorded license or marriage certificate | That a marriage was performed and recorded, with the names used at the time, the date and the place | Whether the marriage still exists |
| Index entry or verification letter | Enough detail, such as names, date and county, to order the record | Legal proof: in Texas, indexes aren’t legal documents and verification letters aren’t certified |
| Divorce or annulment decree | That a marriage was ended, and when | Anything about a later marriage |
Who keeps marriage records
A marriage record starts in the county (in New York, the town or city) that issued the license, and the office goes by different names:
- Texas: the county clerk, the only office that issues certified copies of marriage licenses, says the Texas Department of State Health Services.
- Indiana: the clerk of court in the county that issued the license, since marriage records there are created and held at the county level.
- Georgia: the probate court, where state law has required marriages to be recorded since 1805, according to the Georgia Archives.
- Pennsylvania: the county Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, which has issued licenses since September 30, 1885, the Pennsylvania State Archives says.
- North Carolina: the register of deeds in the county where the marriage took place.
- New York: the town or city clerk where the license was bought.
Many states also keep copies or an index centrally, from a certain year. The Florida Department of Health has marriage certificates recorded from June 6, 1927 on, North Carolina’s state office has them from 1962, and Texas’s statewide indexes start in 1966. For earlier years, Florida and Texas send you to the county.
The record sits where the license was issued, which isn’t always where the couple lived: a Texas couple can get a license in any county in the state, and Sacramento County, California, issues certificates only for licenses it issued itself.
Older records. Some state archives hold copies of older county marriage records: the Georgia Archives has marriage records for most counties on microfilm, many of them in its Virtual Vault, though generally not after 1900. FamilySearch describes itself as a free website with indexes and some images, and its Research Wiki sorts U.S. marriage records by state.
Are marriage records public?
Often, but not everywhere, and not every kind of copy. It depends on the state, the type of copy and sometimes the record’s age, as five states show.
Florida: open. State law has the Department of Health issue a certified copy of a marriage certificate, minus any confidential portion, to any person who requests it and pays the fee, under section 382.025 of the Florida Statutes.
Texas: public indexes, county copies. The state posts yearly marriage index files from 1966 through 2024, listing both people’s names and ages and the date and place of each marriage, and describes them as aids for locating the county where the license was filed. Harris County lets you view and print free, watermarked copies of licenses filed after March 2003 once you set up an account. Since September 1, 2003, it redacts Social Security numbers from copies of marriage applications unless you are named on one.
California: two kinds of copies. Authorized copies of a public marriage certificate go only to the spouses, certain relatives and a few others, such as an attorney or someone with a court order; anyone else gets an informational copy marked as not valid to establish identity, Sacramento County explains. Confidential marriage certificates are not open to public inspection without a court order, and the county clerk may confirm that such a marriage exists but may not disclose its date or other details without a court order, under Family Code section 511.
New York: restricted. The state health department issues marriage certificates only to the spouses, to people with a documented judicial or other proper purpose, such as an agency letter saying the record is needed for a benefit claim, and to people with a New York State court order. Its genealogy copies generally require the record to have been on file for at least 50 years, with both spouses known to be deceased.
North Carolina: not free. “Vital records are not free public records,” says NC Vital Records, which as of July 2026 charges a nonrefundable $24 search fee per three-year period searched, including one copy if a record is found.
Some records are restricted for good reasons, so use the route the office offers rather than trying to get around it; in California, anyone requesting an authorized copy signs a statement under penalty of perjury that they are entitled to it. Rules for other records are in what you can find in public records.
Which office to ask: a decision table
| What you need | Where to ask | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of your own marriage, for a name change, passport or benefit | The county office that issued the license, or the state office if it holds that year | A certified copy |
| Confirmation that a marriage was recorded in Texas since 1966 | Texas Vital Statistics, online, by mail or in person | A verification letter, which isn’t certified and doesn’t replace the license |
| The county, when you only know the state | A statewide index, such as Texas’s yearly files or Indiana’s Marriage License Public Lookup | Names, date and county, so you know where to order |
| A marriage from generations ago | The state archives, FamilySearch or the county | An index entry or image; a certified copy only if you order one |
| A California confidential marriage certificate | The county clerk that issued the license | A copy only if you are a spouse or have a court order |
| Whether a marriage ended | The clerk of the court that handled the divorce or annulment | The decree or case file |
| Proof of a marriage abroad | That country’s embassy or consulate; the State Department only if a U.S. consular officer witnessed the marriage before November 9, 1989 | The foreign record, or a copy of the Certificate of Witness to Marriage Abroad |
How to search for a marriage record, step by step
Gather these details before you start; they are what clerks search by.
- Both people’s full names when they applied, including a surname used before the wedding or an earlier married name.
- Spelling variants and nicknames for each name.
- An approximate year, or a range of a few years.
- The state and, if possible, the county that issued the license.
- For a certified copy: photo ID, your relationship to the couple if the form asks, and sometimes a notarized statement, which California requires for authorized copies ordered by mail.
- Money for fees: some indexes are free, but certified copies cost money and some offices keep the search fee even when nothing is found.
If you know a person’s name but not where the license might have been issued, a name search on Recordwell can show the places connected to that name over time, which narrows down the office to ask. It doesn’t hold marriage records and can’t tell you whether someone is married; the issuing office’s record is what counts.
- Find the state’s office on the CDC’s Where to Write page, and check which years it covers.
- Search a statewide index if one exists. Indiana’s Marriage License Public Lookup works without knowing the county and contains “many—but not all—marriage records from 1993 to the present.” Texas posts an index file for each year from 1966 through 2024.
- Search the county’s own index. Many clerks offer one online; Miami-Dade’s can be narrowed by birth date and marriage date range.
- Try archives and FamilySearch for older marriages, then ask whichever office holds the original for a copy.
- Order the certified copy from the county that issued the license, or from the state office for the years it covers.
Why marriage searches miss: names, spellings and namesakes
Indexes use the names on the application. Harris County, Texas, asks for “both parties’ names at the time the marriage took place,” and Miami-Dade’s license search for a spouse’s full name at the time of the application. So a woman who took her husband’s surname is listed under the one she had before, which may be an earlier married name. The maiden name search guide shows how to work out an earlier surname.
Clerks and indexers make mistakes. Indiana warns that misspelled names or incorrect dates “could be the result of data entry errors,” and Texas says its indexes “may contain data entry errors or misreported data” and “cannot be considered comprehensive.” Try spelling variants, a first initial, or one person’s name alone, and try each person in either name field: Indiana’s lookup labels them Applicant 1 and Applicant 2, not bride and groom.
Different couples share names. Use every detail an entry gives, such as the ages in Texas’s index (the state notes an age error in its 2019 file), and confirm a match with a second, independent detail. The guide to checking that a record belongs to the right person explains how.
How to find out if someone is married, and what a record can’t tell you
There are ordinary reasons to check: settling an estate, claiming a spouse’s benefit, confirming your own record before a legal step, or building a family tree. A marriage record shows that a license was issued and recorded on a certain date, in a certain county, under certain names. On its own, it can’t show:
- Whether the marriage still exists. A divorce, annulment or death is recorded elsewhere, so a 1998 marriage record says nothing about today.
- Marriages licensed elsewhere. A Texas verification letter covers only marriages recorded with the State of Texas; a marriage licensed in another state or country is kept there.
- Informal, or common-law, marriages. Texas recognizes informal marriage. A couple can file a declaration with the county clerk, but under section 2.401 of the Family Code the marriage can also be proved without one: the couple agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as husband and wife and told others they were married.
- Confidential marriages. In California, their details stay closed without a court order.
- Whether a license led to a wedding. If all you found is a license, it doesn’t prove a ceremony took place, since unused licenses expire; Indiana’s lookup tells you to confirm with the issuing county’s clerk that the marriage was recorded.
- Very recent marriages. A Texas officiant has up to 30 days to return the license, and the state’s posted index files end with 2024.
A “no record found” answer has limits too. North Carolina sends a letter stating that no record was found, and Texas issues a “not found” letter, but each covers only that office’s records and years. Not finding a record isn’t proof that no marriage exists. If you need proof for a legal or benefits matter, ask the agency involved which document it accepts.
Worked example: from a family story to a certified copy
This example is illustrative, and the names are invented. Your family says your grandparents, Rosa Delgado and James Whitfield, married in Texas “around 1970,” but nobody remembers where.
- Download the Texas marriage index files for 1969 through 1971.
- Search for Whitfield, then for Delgado, since the bride is listed under her name before the wedding.
- You find two James Whitfields married in 1970, in different counties. One groom is 47; the other is 23, and his bride is Rosa Delgado, 21, which fits what you know.
- Check that county against something independent, such as where the family lived then, and order a certified copy from its county clerk, since the state can’t issue one.
The groom’s name alone pointed to two couples; the bride’s name and the ages told them apart, and the county check confirmed it. For a wedding before 1966, you would go to FamilySearch or the county instead.
Use marriage records with care
Marriage records describe real people, many of them alive. Collect only what you need for a legitimate purpose, and don’t republish details such as birth dates or addresses from a record.
Don’t use what you find for decisions about someone’s job, housing, credit or insurance; those call for a consumer reporting agency that follows the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Recordwell isn’t one, as its FCRA notice explains. If you want to know what shows up under your own name, you can check what a stranger would find and remove your listing for free.
Common questions about marriage records
Are marriage records public?
It depends on the state. Florida issues certified marriage certificates to anyone who asks and pays. New York gives certified copies only to the spouses and people with a documented proper purpose or a court order, and California keeps confidential marriages closed to the public.
How can I find out if someone is married?
Search the marriage index or the clerk’s records for the state and county where a license would have been issued. A record shows that a marriage was recorded, not that it still exists, and you won’t see marriages licensed in other states, informal marriages with no declaration, or confidential ones.
Can I search marriage records for free?
Some indexes are free. FamilySearch describes itself as a free website, and Harris County, Texas, lets you view watermarked copies of licenses filed after March 2003 once you set up an account. Certified copies cost money.
What is the difference between a marriage license and a marriage certificate?
A license is permission to marry and expires if it isn’t used, in most states within 30 days to a year. After the ceremony, the signed license is returned and recorded, and a certified copy of that record proves the marriage took place.
How do I get a certified copy of my marriage certificate?
Contact the office in the county that issued your license, or the vital records office of the state where you married, for the fee, what to send and how to order. Offices such as New York’s health department and Sacramento County’s clerk-recorder ask for ID.
Does a marriage record show whether the couple divorced?
No. A divorce is decided by a court and kept in its files, separately from the marriage record; in Texas, for example, certified divorce decrees come only from the district clerk in the county where the divorce was granted.