Indiana Marriage Records

A person may request and obtain copies of Indiana Marriage Records because Indiana is an open record state. This means that any person has the right to access vital records such as marriage, divorce, birth, and death records provided that the correct requirements are submitted and the corresponding fees are paid. The Indiana Department of Health keeps copies of marriage records but it is up to the specific counties what requirements are needed and how much needs to be paid.

The Department of Health accepts requests through mail and telephone. Regardless what type of request is made, it will take a couple of weeks to get results for an application. Certified copies are available only at the specific Superior Court or Circuit Court where the marriage was filed. If you do not have any information about the specific county where the records are kept, the Department of Health can help you track it down.

Prior to 1818, a marriage license was not required to be put on record. Only marriage certificates were filed. After 1818, marriage license became part of the jurisdiction of the state and it also became part of marriage records. In 1940, a mandatory residency period in a particular county was required of brides before they were allowed to file for a marriage license.

Although the records are available for requests, some of the confidential pieces of information about it are kept away from the public especially from those who were the immediate relatives of the bride or the groom. A person who is not related to the couple can only access the basic details of the records such as the full names of the bride and the groom, date and place of the marriage, and the official who executed the ceremony. Certified copies are only provided to the couple, their immediate family members, and their legal representatives. Confidential pieces of information will only be accessed by an outside party if they have a court order.

Searching for the records needs time and effort. Public offices handle thousands of records, and that is why it is not that easy to retrieve them. Thankfully, advances in technology made it easier to search for them. Public offices started to use an online database. The database cut down the time it took for searching the records.

A Marriage Record can also be accessed through online records providers. These websites are not owned by the government, but they have authorization from the court to disseminate public records. There are several records providers over the Internet. It is just a matter of finding the right one that fits your searching needs. Some providers render fees while some provide them for free. Although it is very enticing that you can get the records for free, the sites that render fees do provide a much better version of the records. Just like in government agencies, the records are technically for free, but it is the expenses incurred in retrieving them that the providers are charging for.