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Marriage Records
Los Angeles County

Married, Wedding, Bride, Groom

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Information that follows is from the Los Angeles County Register-Recorder/County Clerk.
All questions, not answered here, should be directed to the Register-Recorder/County Clerk.

Birth, Death & Marriage Records Section
PO Box 489
Norwalk, CA 90651-0489

Marriage License & Records Information: (800) 201-8999



Under California law, only specific individuals are allowed to receive an Authorized Certified Copy of a birth, death or public marriage record. An Authorized Certified Copy of a public marriage record is required to change your name on a driver’s license, passport, social security card and other services related to an individual’s identity. See below for a list of persons authorized to receive an Authorized Certified Copy.

Those who are not authorized may receive an Informational Certified Copy with the words "Informational, Not a Valid Document to Establish Identity" imprinted across the face of the copy. Informational copies are not available same day. They will be mailed within 20 working days.

Individuals Permitted to Receive an Authorized Certified Copy of a Public Marriage Record

  • One of the parties to the marriage or a parent or legal guardian of one of the parties
  • A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting official business
  • A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse or domestic partner of one of the parties to the marriage.
  • An attorney representing one of the parties to the marriage or the party’s estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by a court to act on behalf of one of the parties to the marriage or the party’s estate

Only parties to the marriage are allowed to receive an Authorized Certified Copy of a Confidential Marriage Record. Informational Certified Copies are not issued for Confidential Marriage Records.

Copies of confidential marriage licenses may only be obtained by parties to the marriage or by order of a court. Otherwise, copies of confidential marriage licenses are not obtainable.

Records from this office are available for marriages licenses issued in Los Angeles County since 1852. A certified copy of a marriage record will be provided for a $15 fee per copy. The fee is nonrefundable; a "No Record Statement" will be issued if the record is not found.

Other than requests from government agencies, no requests for records are accepted by telephone.

Government agencies may call (562) 462-8102 to submit an order.

MAIL REQUEST

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To request copies by mail, please complete the Application for Public Marriage Record (for mail only) (see below) or the Application for Confidential Marriage Record (see below). You must also submit a Certificate of Identity (Public) for Public Marriage Records (see below) or Certificate of Identity (Confidential) for Confidential Marriage Records) (see below). If you do NOT live in California, please have the notary strike out California on the Certificate of Identity and put the state in which the form is notarized. It will be accepted with the change). Include a pre-addressed stamped envelope with your request. Payment for mail requests can be made by check or money order payable to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. DO NOT SEND CASH. Out of state checks are accepted. Please be sure to sign the application as well as the Certificate of Identity. Failure to do so may delay the processing of your request.

Click here for Application to Request a Public Marriage Record and Certificate of Identity.
Click here for Application to Request a Confidential Marriage Record and Certificate of Identity for Confidential Marriages.

Mail request and fee ($15 per copy) to:
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
Birth Records
PO Box 489
Norwalk, CA 90651-0489

Most mail requests are processed within 20 working days from the date the request is received by this office. The processing time does not include the delivery time to and from the office, weekends or holidays.

Other than requests from government agencies, no requests for records are accepted by telephone.

Government agencies may call (562) 462-8102 to submit an order.

ONLINE REQUEST

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The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is unable to accept credit cards for online orders; however, online orders may be made with a credit card through a partnering independent company, VitalChek Network, Inc. VitalChek can be reached through its website, www.vitalchek.com. A $9.00 fee is charged by VitalChek for this service. All major credit cards are accepted, including American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard® or Visa®..

You must complete and send in the required Certificate of Identity as you would with a mail-in request (see above). Please follow the instructions on the Vitalchek site. If you do not supply the necessary Certificate of Identity within 5 business days, your order will be cancelled and must be resubmitted. If you do not live in California, please have the notary strike out "California" on the Certificate of Identity and put the state in which the form is notarized. It will be accepted with the change.

Orders are processed within 20 working days of receipt of the Certificate of Identity. Credit card orders will be returned by regular mail unless UPS delivery is requested (at additional cost, of course). The $9.00 special handling fee will be charged on all credit card orders in addition to the per-copy fee. Informational copies are not available same day, but will be mailed within 20 work days.

Place a Request Online.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Website

IN-PERSON REQUEST

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Office, Norwalk

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Office in Norwalk. Photo from Google Maps, Copyright 2017 Google.

A valid photo ID will be requested when a public marriage record is requested in person and the fee per copy is $15.

To expedite a request for certified copies of vital records, go online first and click here to complete your in-person application.

Same-day service is available for marriages 1995 to present. Marriages prior to 1995 will be mailed within 20 working days.

Payment of fees may be made by cash, check (with valid ID, out-of-state checks accepted), money order or debit/credit cards (American Express, Discover, Mastercard, Visa). A $1.75 service fee is added for payment by debit/credit card.

Fees are nonrefundable; a "No Record Statement" will be issued if the record is not found.

When coming in person, be sure to have with you: 1) your application confirmation number if submitted online; 2) a valid photo ID; 3) sufficient payment for all fees.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Locations:

Address City Telephone Hours (Mon-Fri, except holidays)
44509 16th St West, Suite 101 Lancaster (661) 945-6446 8:30am-4:30pm
11701 S La Cienega Blvd, 6th Floor LAX Courthouse (310) 727-6142 8:30am-4:30pm
4716 E Cesar Chavez Blvd, Bldg B East Los Angeles (323) 260-2991 8:30am-4:30pm
7807 S Compton Ave Florence/Firestone (323) 586-6192 8:30am-4:30pm
12400 Imperial Highway Norwalk (562) 462-2177 8:00am-5:00pm;
3rd Thurs of month: 8:00amm-7pm
14340 W Sylvan St Van Nuys (818) 376-3777 8:30am-4:30pm

The Norwalk Facility is open 8am-7pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month.

Payment for in-person requests can be made by cash, check or money order. If paying by check, valid identification (i.e., Driver's License) of the signer is required and must be presented at time of request. Out of state checks are accepted.

The fee is nonrefundable. A "No Record Statement" will be issued if the record is not found.

DIVORCE RECORD INFORMATION

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk does not keep divorce records. Please click here.


Source: Los Angeles County Register-Recorder/County Clerk