Of the public records that are most widely searched, Marriage Records must rank tops. What do people look for and what are their reasons for it?

Marriage records are generally maintained at the county offices where the marriage license was issued. With computerization, the majority of states will have uploaded all public records onto a state repository. Since Texas marriage records are under state jurisdiction, they will be no exception. At a basic level, they include name, age, residence, occupation, birth place, time and place of marriage, some particulars of parents, witnesses and the conducting official of the ceremony. A key point fundamental to the purpose of many a marriage record search is previous marriages, if any, will show up.

When applying for a license to be married, marriage records of both the prospective husband and wife must be produced as proof of their eligibility. When the new wife is seeking a name change, they are required for substantiation. This is important as the name change itself is often a prerequisite to a further purpose such as immigration, adoption, joint tax returns, social security matters, insurance, medical and many other benefits.

Certified copies can also be used as proof of identification or status when making claims to inheritance, marital assets, rights, privileges or even royalty. Locating biological parents or parents, especially mothers, identifying themselves to their natural children after a name change are also situations where they will come in handy.

Genealogy and family tree researchers will also find them to be an invaluable resource. Start with a small branch and you'd be surprised at how the various connecting marriage records can quickly help to complete the entire tree. Inevitably, there are downsides to their significance too. Lawyers are known to make wry use of them to establish targeted character perception of people involved in legal proceedings upon the jury or judges. Journalists and reporters also commonly employ its juicy appeal to enhance their viewer ratings.

Most of all, the mother of all marriage records search purposes is to look for what we hope not to find when checking on a future spouse. Love is blind but statistics and records don't lie. It's just a little due diligence compared to the enormity of taking the big plunge. Besides, it is relatively hassle-free these days to conduct a state marriage records search on virtually anyone. With as little as a name and speculative state of residence (Texas, California, Alaska....), we could be scrutinizing someone's marital past within minutes.