Florida Marriage Public Records: Fees, Timing, and Apostilles

Florida marriage public records are open to anyone, and you can order a certified copy without proving a relationship to the people named or giving a reason. For marriages recorded from June 6, 1927, to the present, the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville is the main source. For anything before that date, you have to go to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the license was issued.¹

Which Office Holds the Record

The Bureau of Vital Statistics, part of the Florida Department of Health, maintains a centralized database of every marriage certificate recorded by county clerks since June 6, 1927.¹ Its mailing address is P.O. Box 210, 1217 Pearl Street, Jacksonville, FL 32231-0042.²

Marriages that took place before June 6, 1927, are not in the state system at all. Those records live only with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the issuing county.¹

Even for recent marriages, the county clerk is the original filing office and can usually sell you a certified copy directly. Some clerks run free online portals that let you search the index by name and order copies electronically. Miami-Dade County, for example, has a searchable marriage license database on its clerk’s website. If you already know the county, checking there first is often faster than going through Jacksonville.

How to Request a Copy From the State

The Bureau accepts requests three ways: by mail, in person at the Jacksonville office, or online through VitalChek, the only third-party vendor authorized by the Department of Health.³

By Mail or In Person

Use Form DH 261, “Application for Florida Marriage Certificate,” available on the Department of Health website.⁴ The form asks for both spouses’ full names prior to first marriage (including maiden names), their dates of birth, the date of the marriage (or a range of years if you aren’t sure), the city and county where it took place and where the license was issued, and your own name, address, phone number, relationship to the parties, and signature.

Mail the completed form with a check or money order payable to “Vital Statistics.” Filling in every field prevents delays if the Bureau has to contact you about missing information.

Online Through VitalChek

VitalChek orders are faster but cost more. The portal charges the Bureau’s fees plus a processing fee for identity verification and electronic submission, and every VitalChek order automatically includes the $10 expedited handling charge.

Fees

Fees are set by Rule 64V-1.014 of the Florida Administrative Code and apply to any request handled by the Bureau:⁵

$5 for a search of the first calendar year, which includes one computer-generated certified copy if the record is located. The $5 is non-refundable even if nothing is found.
$2 for each additional calendar year searched when you don’t know the exact year, capped at $50.
$4 for each additional certified copy ordered at the same time.
$10 for expedited processing.
$1 shipping and handling for mail orders.

If you specifically want a certified photocopy of the original record rather than the standard computer-generated certification, that costs an additional $5. For most legal uses, including name changes, insurance, immigration, and probate matters, the computer certification is accepted.

How Long It Takes

Standard processing at the Bureau runs three to five business days for computer-generated certificates covering marriages from 1970 forward, not counting mail time in either direction. Records from before 1970 take longer because they may need to be pulled from older archives. A typical mail-in request takes two to three weeks door-to-door.

Expedited processing moves your request to the front of the Bureau’s queue, which helps most with pre-1970 records or during busy periods. VitalChek orders include expedited processing by default; actual delivery depends on the shipping option you choose.

What You Need to Know Before You Search

At a minimum, you need both spouses’ full legal names as they appeared at the time of the marriage. Maiden names are what matter, because the record was filed under the names on the license, not any name adopted later.

If the year is a guess, you can request a multi-year search, but every extra year adds $2 and climbs toward the $50 ceiling quickly.⁵ Knowing the county of issue also narrows the search. For genealogical work where details are thin, starting at the county clerk’s office in the area where the couple lived can sometimes turn up index entries that let you refine a later state-level request.

What’s on the Record, and What Isn’t

A Florida marriage record shows the names of both parties, the date the license was issued, the name of the person who performed the ceremony, and the date of the marriage.⁶ All of that is public.

Social Security numbers are collected on the license application under a federal child support enforcement mandate, but state law keeps them off the certified copies released to the public.⁷ If you’re hoping to pull an SSN from a marriage record, you won’t find one.

Apostilles for Use Outside the United States

If you need a Florida marriage certificate accepted in a country that signed the Hague Convention of 1961, you’ll need an apostille. The Bureau of Vital Statistics does not issue them. Order the certified copy from the Bureau first, then submit it to the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations for authentication, by mail or in person. The apostille fee is separate from the vital records fee.

1
Florida Department of Health. Marriage Certificates
2
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Where to Write for Vital Records – Florida
3
Florida Department of Health. Certificates and Records
4
Florida Department of Health. Application for Florida Marriage Certificate
5
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 64V-1.014 – Fees for Vital Statistics Services Provided by State Registrar
6
The Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 741 – Marriage
7
My Florida Legal. Official Records – Recording Marriage Record