Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Virginia Marriage Records For Legal Actions

By Lance Kinn

The state of Virginia stores its marriage records in its state archive and these records are open for public access. Since, Virginia is a large state by population, it is then expected to have millions of marriage records kept. However, it is not that easy to obtain such records from this state.

It has been said that there are restrictions in retrieving Virginia Marriage Records from its government agencies. Only the immediate family of the married individuals has the right to receive a marriage record. Members of the family other than those mentioned above will no longer have access to such records, not until after 50 years after the date of the said marriage. A photo I.D. should be presented prior to receiving such record.

Marriage Records Virginia can be retrieved at the Virginia Office of Vital Records, a department that reports straight into the State Department of Health. These records are restricted to be released only to the immediate families of the bride and the groom not until 50 years after the date of the marriage. In requesting for a particular marriage record, information such as the name of the groom, full maiden name of the bride and the time and location of the marriage should be provided for the request to be activated. In addition, a non-refundable fee is required even when there's no result found for such search.

There are three standard ways in requesting for Marriage Records in Virginia at the Virginia Record Office. These given ways are: walk-in, mail and the express delivery. The first way is said to be the fastest among the three. It can provide the information in the same day that you've requested. Through mail requests, one has to wait for 5-10 business day which is the request processing time. On the other hand, the express service can be achieved through VitalChek Network. However, that entails a regular cost and other additional fees.

Provided that not all people found these ways convenient on their part, another option is available too. That option is to go to commercial record providers with the help and recommendations of some experts or review sites. It is good to know that with these rated providers, a money-back guarantee is part of the package.

It is therefore wonderful to take note that despite the span of time that the marriage occurred or the million of times it happened to millions of people, we never run out of resources in our researches. Whether the search is for genealogy or any personal or legal purposes, information through the government or the net are made easy to check on.

About the Author: