State-certified marriage records are official legal documents issued by the Massachusetts State Registry of Vital Statistics in Boston.
The State Registrar embosses the official raised Massachusetts state seal on every marriage certificate, signs it, includes the original date of issue and current copy date, prints it on secure, heavyweight, watermarked paper, and adds a scanned, digital bar-code for tracking.
Certified marriage records are valid for obtaining passports, processing "REAL ID" applications, filing for divorce, United States citizenship, obtaining social security benefits, and many other legal purposes.
The fee for searching, locating, and shipping a Massachusetts-certified marriage certificate within the United States for delivery in 10 - 14 business days is $45.
IMPORTANT! Marriage records for persons born to unwed parents are restricted in Massachusetts and unavailable through this application.
Massachusetts State Regulations, Chapter 46, limits explicitly unwed parents' marriage records to either the subjects, parents named on the form, or legal guardians or representatives of the issue.
PLEASE NOTE! After almost three years of the pandemic closures, a massive office flooding event, and long-awaited technological enhancements and improvements, the Registry of Vital Records research room is now open to the public.
We can now offer genealogical research services and obtain birth, marriage, and death records transcriptions.
We have also added a NEW ORDER FORM developed strictly for ordering transcribed Massachusetts marriage records.
Still not sure if you need a certified or transcribed record? Here is an example of a Massachusetts transcribed marriage record.
SPOUSE A
SPOUSE B
DATE AND PLACE OF MARRIAGE
Select "Not Known" if month is unknown.
Select "Not Known" if day is unknown.
- If the specific year is unknown, enter the year you feel is most accurate.
- In the "Notes Section" further down on this form, enter up to a five year span, i. e. 1961 - 1965, to have searched.
- Records before 1931 are not available through this application. See Massachusetts Vital Records 1841 - 1930.
- State copies of marriage records from 2022 and 2023 have yet to be available. For town or city copies, contact the city clerk's office where the couple registered to get married.
NEXT, SELECT DELIVERY BY EITHER FIRST CLASS or EXPEDITED MAIL.
Then, choose the number of records you want under that shipping method using the drop-down arrow.
YOUR NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS
CREDIT CARD INFORMATION
BILLING ADDRESS
