Public Marriage License v. Confidential Marriage License

If you are planning to get married, you will need to decide whether you’d like to apply for a public marriage license or a confidential marriage license. 

Public Marriage Licenses

Benefits of a public marriage license include:

• It is easy to access your marriage certificate from the county once you’ve been married
• The license can be issued in any California county, not just the county in which the marriage ceremony takes place
• You and your spouse do not need to share a residence before the wedding ceremony

 Disadvantages of a public marriage license include:

• Anyone can gain access to your marriage license (which contains personal information) such as identity thieves, junk mail companies, telemarketers, etc.
• Both you and your spouse must appear together at the county clerk’s office to obtain your marriage license.  This type of marriage license cannot be delivered.

 Confidential Marriage Licenses

Benefits of a confidential marriage license include:

• Confidential marriage licenses are kept private and are only made available to you and your spouse
• You do not have to go to the county clerk’s office to obtain your license, instead a notary can file for the license on your behalf any time of the week.

 Disadvantages of a confidential marriage license:

• You and your spouse must live together as a married couple in order to qualify for a confidential marriage license
• The marriage ceremony must take place in the county in which you apply for the license.