View Free Pinellas County Marriage Records (Obtain Licenses)

Find free Pinellas County marriage records on anyone who wed here.

These records are available via several methods for requesters’ convenience. Marriage records are available online from May 1972 to the current date, but these documents and details can also be viewed or requested in person, by mail, or via phone.

It’s important to understand how to obtain this data in the most efficient manner possible. This article will guide you through the entire marriage records search process in Pinellas County so you can track down the desired information efficiently and seamlessly.

How To Track Down Pinellas County Marriage Records for Free

Marriage records are available via the Official Records Search Tool found on the clerk’s home page as a free search.¹

Accept the disclaimer on the page to view the search tool. There is no need to log in. On the home page, either select the link in the burgundy banner, Recorded Documents, or click the dropdown menu option in the web page navigation bar, View Records, scroll down to Official Records, and then select View Official Records.

Information about archived Pinellas County marital records for genealogy purposes can also be found with the free search tool.

To begin a search for marriage records with the Official Records Search Tool, select “Name” to search records by name.² If the name is unknown, but the date is known, then use the Doc Type search to search for a specific day. The instructions that follow are for name searches only.

The Name search form displays the fields that follow:

• Show Names
• Name
• Doc Type
• Book Type
• Date Range
• From Record Date
• To Record Date

Leave the Show Names default set to All.

The Official Records search page is a split screen with the Name search form above a collapsible bar to hide the form. Below the bar is the results screen that shows Search Tips until there are search results.

At the Name search field on the Name search page, enter a person’s last name followed by the first name. Enter at least three characters. If the last name is common, then a search of marriage records with only the last name will return more than 3000 results, and the search will return an error.

If the name being searched is uncommon, and the search results are few enough to manage, then continue to the search results. Otherwise, narrow the search results by date. If the marriage occurred within the recent month, then click the drop-down arrow next to the date range to choose from the recent date options of Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, Last 14 Days, and Last Month.

Choose dates from the fields From Record Date and To Record Date to narrow the date range to a specific date. The earliest “from date” for marriage records is May 1972.

For some searches, only the last name is available for the search of one person, but the name of a potential spouse may be known. In this case, searches may be performed on the “First Cross Party” field. Add a name in the First Cross Party field and click Filter Grid to filter the Name search results by First Cross Party.

If the person being searched is in the results, then click that row to view the marriage license. If not, then click the button, Name List, to restart the search on the first name that was searched.

Pinellas County maintains a registry for domestic partnerships that are maintained in a separate Domestic Partner Registry.

For more inquiries about how to obtain public records, you can reach out to Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller:

Pinellas County Circuit Court Clerk & Comptroller
Attn: Public Records Liaison
315 Court St., Room 400
Clearwater, Florida 33756

Phone: 727-464-3341
Email: [email protected]

There are also archived marriage records that a citizen can access. This will be discussed in greater detail below.

How To Look Up Archived Marriage Records in Pinellas County Florida

Marriage records are available online from May 1972 to the current date. Older Pinellas County marital records are maintained in the Official Records Microfilm Index 1957-1990 and may be viewed in person.³

The Pinellas County Clerk is available to answer questions by email at [email protected].

Pinellas County Circuit Court Clerk & Comptroller
315 Court St.
Clearwater, FL 33756

Phone: 727-464-7000
Email: [email protected]

Heritage Village is a government program that provides archives and a library; their archives may be useful for searching marriage records that are not available online.

Heritage Village Archives & Library
11909 125th Street N.
Largo, Florida 33774

Phone: 727-582-2128
Fax: 727-582-2211

The State Library & Archives of Florida also offers people plenty of resources that support and assist those trying to perform genealogical searches.⁵

Older marital information can be found in resources such as historical newspapers, records maintained by churches or other religious institutions, documents held by historical societies, and records at libraries.

There is no such thing as common law marriages in Florida, so there is no such thing as common law divorce. You need an official marriage license from a county court judge to be legally married in Florida.

How To Track Down Records of Marriages Elsewhere in Florida

Sometimes, a search for marriage records shows that a couple was married outside of Pinellas County, Florida. State and other resources are available to assist those broader searches, as any documentation of marital events held outside of this jurisdiction will not show up in Pinellas County records of marriage.

Florida marriage certificates from June 6, 1927 to the present are recorded by the Clerk of Circuit Court, where the marriage license is issued and forwarded to the Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics for permanent filing.⁶ Marriage certificates are available approximately 60 days after the ceremony.

The Bureau of Vital Statistics offers walk-in or mail-in services for ordering a Florida Marriage Certificate and requires fees. A non-refundable $5.00 search fee is included in all orders. You also need to fill-up an Application Form for Florida Marriage Certificate.⁷

The Bureau may be reached at (904)359-6900, ext. 9000, or you can walk in to the following location:

Bureau of Vital Statistics
1217 N Pearl Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Lobby hours: M-F 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Walk-in payments may be made in the form of cash, check, money order, Visa, and Mastercard.

Requesters can also opt to mail their application to the address below:

Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics
P.O. Box 210
Jacksonville, Fl 32231-0042

Marriage certificates may be ordered online with a credit card from VitalChek, the only contracted vendor for the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics, for various fees.

How To Apply for a Marriage License in Pinellas County Florida

Marriage licenses in Pinellas County are issued by the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. There is a three-day waiting period when one applicant is a resident of Florida, but there is no waiting period when both applicants are non-residents.

A marriage license is only valid for 60 days. More information is available at the Recording Services & Official Records.

Couples must complete and submit the online Marriage License Application to obtain a Pinellas County marriage license.⁸ The marriage license application may be completed at home or at a public terminal at one of the clerk’s office locations offering marriage services.

Couples must appear in person and provide the clerk with proper identification. Couples with children in common should complete the Affirmation of Common Children form.

Pinellas County, Florida provides its fee schedule online for marriage licenses and other marriage-related fees. The marriage license fee is $86, but couples may receive a discounted fee of $61 and waive the three-day waiting period that applies to Florida residents when they complete a Premarital Preparation Course.

Couples will be presented with the Family Law Handbook when applying for a marriage license and will be required to sign an oath when they are married.

Common Law Marriage is not recognized. Although Florida is a common law state, as of 2016, it no longer recognizes common law marriage formed within the state. A common law marriage is formed in a few remaining states when couples who have lived together for several years or have developed habits of and reputation of being married.

According to Florida statute §741.211, common-law marriage entered into within the state after January 1, 1968 is not recognized.⁹ Valid common-law marriage entered into in another state where it is legal is recognized.

Same sex marriage is not recognized as Florida bars same sex marriage in Florida statute §741.212; however, this was overridden by the federal government in 2015 and same-sex marriage is now legal throughout the country.¹⁰

Pinellas County marriage records are free to search and download with a thorough and robust search engine.