§ 3-05 Release of Marriage Records.
RCNY § 3-05
(a)In the ordinary course of business, marriage records shall be released only: (1) to the parties to the marriage; (2) to individuals presenting written authorization from one of the parties to the marriage (the authorization must be notarized); or (3) to attorneys in cases where such records are required as evidence in a legal proceeding. The following restrictions do not apply to records that are at least 50 years old, or to records where both parties to the marriage are deceased.
(b)Where a party to the marriage sends a third party to obtain their marriage record without a letter of authorization, that third party may make the request and pay the fee if that third party consents to having the record mailed directly to the party to the marriage. The record will not be released directly to the unauthorized third party.
(c)If a person requires information regarding a current or prospective spouse's marital history, the Office of the City Clerk will, upon the payment of the appropriate search fee, the furnishing of an approximate marriage date, and sufficient information to search under at least one party's name, confirm only the fact of a prior marriage or a subsequent fraudulent acquisition of a marriage certificate with a party other than the inquiring spouse subsequent to their marriage by a "yes" or "no" answer. Under no circumstances will a copy of the record be provided. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to permit a divorced person to obtain the information described in this subparagraph with respect to his or her former spouse.
(d)Any requestors whose requests are refused by the Records Division pursuant to the above subdivisions, but who feel nevertheless that their requests are for a statutorily proper purpose, may send their requests in writing for review by the City Clerk, at 1 Centre Street – Room 265, New York, New York, 10007. Requests may be approved or denied in whole or in part. All approvals shall be in writing.
(e)All over-the-counter requestors must present identification when applying to obtain a marriage record.
(f)Over-the-counter requests may be honored only when accompanied by payment in the form of a money order or certified check.
(g)A person making an over-the-counter record request involving a multi-year search pre-dating 1973 will be asked to return for the results another day, or can have the record mailed to them if they prefer.
