Learn How to Find a Missouri Marriage Certificate

Missouri has been recording the vital statistics of its citizens from as far back as 1909. Dutiful maintenance of records has been a hallmark of the Missouri State administration. The vital records of births, deaths and marriages have been archived and organized. They are also available – you just have to submit your request to access them.

The importance of marriage records can never be highlighted enough. They are important because they are a reservoir of every possible piece of information about the marriage of two people.

These records are vital because they contain the date of marriage and also the place of marriage. These records can be considered as historical documents because sometimes the names of the mothers and fathers are found in them. What’s more, even the people who witnessed the wedding ceremony are mentioned in the records.

The marriage certificate that can be retrieved from the state and the county authorities will quite frequently have details of the place of residences, and perhaps even the maiden or pre-marriage names of the mothers.

The processes of retrieval of these marriage records are many. You can apply on your own and since the authorities are legally obliged to share the marriage record, you can legally receive the copy. Or, you can also hire a private firm. There are many people who even hire the services of a licensed private investigator to try and find more about a person they are trying to search.

Who Needs to Find Marriage Certificates and Why?

In most cases, marriage records are requested by anyone mapping their family tree and trying to find long-lost people in the family such as a great-grandfather, uncle or aunt. Marriage records can really reveal a lot.

If you are getting married and want to check out your would-be spouse, you can ask for these marriage records too – there are many others who do this as well.

How to Obtain a Copy of Missouri Marriage Records

When you are requesting a copy of a marriage license, please ensure that the following information has been furnished by you.

Provide good reasons as to why you need the record. Please also mention your name and address in the request. Do enclose without fail your driver's license number and state of residence, as some counties require it as a standard procedure.

You need to also mention the full name of the husband, with the last name in capital letters. The same goes for the name of the wife. The full maiden name of wife with the last name in caps should be clearly mentioned without fail. Missing out on any fine details mentioned here would imperil your request with immediate rejection by the relevant authorities.

The date of marriage has to be mentioned, and do not leave out the place of marriage. Don't forget to mention or include the relationship of the married couple to yourself, or to “the party”.

Having limited personnel, the county and the state offices are often quite overburdened with work. Contrary to what many people may think, genealogical queries are done as a service, and are not the main job of those people. Thus, there can be some delays.

Do be patient and show some courtesy. Yes, those at the office are willing to help you, but it does indeed help if you understand the situation.

Even after all the paperwork has been meticulously compiled by you, do not get complacent. Ask yourself, “Have I signed the request document?” If not, the application or request will be rejected outright. Please note that the requestor's signature is a vital part of the document, and must be furnished.

Where to Find Missouri Marriage Certificates

Beginning in August 1909, vital records were kept on a statewide basis. The city of St. Louis however, began recording the vital statistics in 1850 – thus these records are quite extensive. It is estimated that about 60% compliance was met in these earlier recordings for that city.

MO marriage records are recorded with the county Recorder of Deeds. For records of vital statistics after August 1909, you will need to write to:

Missouri Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Records
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0570

For accessing marriage records before August 1909, please write to the Recorder of Deeds in the county in question. If you need to access earlier records in St. Louis, you should get in touch with:

St. Louis Vital Records
P.O. Box 14702
St. Louis, MO 63178

Missouri marriage records can be obtained by providing complete information on an individual and the event. All names that may have been used during the time of the event, including nicknames, alternate spellings, etc. must be mentioned by you in your request.

As completely and accurately as possible, please list the dates and type of event in your request letter. In the possible scenario where the exact date is not in your knowledge, please specify the span of years that you wish to be searched.

Please remember that this service is not free – there is a charge attached to the effort undertaken to search through the thousands of records. So, be prepared to pay extra for searches that span several years. This is one reason why you must try to keep the number of years as narrow as possible.