Look Up Free West Virginia Marriage Records (License Search)

Track down free West Virginia marriage records, which are available to anyone. Relevant information is accessible so people can find out who’s married to whom in West Virginia, when the marriage happened, and other details.

Anyone looking to uncover information about an individual’s marital situation, past and present, can rely on state and county agencies to access the information they need at no cost. This resource will guide anyone through the steps of getting accurate information.

Can Anyone Access West Virginia Marriage Certificates?

All rules and regulations regarding marriages in the state are governed by the West Virginia Code, Chapter 28, Article 2. Marriage records are public in West Virginia, which means they are accessible to anyone interested in them. The original records are usually kept by the local county clerk’s office.

In West Virginia, marriage records are public and can be accessed by anyone interested in obtaining a certificate can do so using a few different tools. The Vital Registration Office, as well as all the local county clerks’ offices, provide assistance to citizens who need to obtain copies of certificates.

Older marriage records can be found with the help of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History. All the tools and the best way to uncover all records about marriages, present and past, as well as information about how to make a request with each of those agencies, will be addressed below.

In West Virginia, Common Law isn’t recognized since there’s no provision in the state code about this kind of relationship. It means that, regardless of how long a couple has cohabitated in West Virginia, the parties have no rights because the State doesn’t recognize their partnership.

According to the West Virginia Vital Statistics Annual Report, around 10k marriages were registered in the state in 2020.¹ Only 239 of those marriages were same-sex, while all others were male-female. First-time spouses’ average age was, in that year, 25 years for women and 27 for men. West Virginia also registered over 5k divorces in 2020.

More reports for previous years are readily available for those interested in facts and statistics about marriages and divorce in West Virginia.

Detailed records about recent marriages, as well as ancient ones, can be uncovered by anyone in West Virginia – as long as they know where to look for them. This resource will help concerned citizens find their way to the records they need.

How To Check Free West Virginia Marriage Records & Certificates

One way to learn about someone’s marital situation in West Virginia is to request a marriage certificate with the WV Vital Registration Office.³ They’re available to the public in person or by mail, and ordering a certificate is quite a simple process.

For those who prefer to go in person, it’s important to have a valid ID at hand, as well as information about the husband and wife whose marriage they intend to check. Full names and the place where the ceremony was registered are ideal, but they can also work with partial information if that’s all that’s available to start a search.

Each marriage certificate costs $12, and to expedite the waiting time, it’s advisable to bring a completed Application for a Certified Marriage Record when visiting the office.⁴

Mail requests require that the same application is mailed with the request, along with a check or money order to pay for the records and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Citizens should be aware that mail requests may take up to 3 weeks to be responded to, and it’s the slowest way to obtain a marriage certificate. When in a hurry, going in person will lead to faster results.

This is the address that people can visit or where they should mail their requests:

Vital Registration Office
350 Capitol St., Rm. 165
Charleston, WV 25301

Phone: 304.558.2931
Fax: 304.558.1051
Email: dhhrvitalreg@wv.gov

The Vital Registration Office also works with VitalChek for online orders. Users should be aware that ordering online may require the payment of more fees, such as processing and mailing fees.

Sourcing Marriage Records in West Virginia on the County Level

When the citizen’s goal is to search free marriage records and avoid paying for certificate copies, a solution may be to visit the local County Clerk’s Office. Kanawha County, for example, has computers available at the office, which searchers can use to look up all sorts of public records – including marriage licenses issued in the county.⁵

Although visiting the office in person may be inconvenient, any search on the available computers won’t cost the interested individuals a dime. If copies of records are needed, it’s also possible to request them. To ensure the closest clerk’s office offers the same free service, citizens should call and check before coming in person.

People can contact the Kanawha County Clerk’s Office by phone, email, fax, mail, or in person. They offer simple copies of records and certified copies, depending on the need presented by the searcher. Pricing is available upon request.

This is their contact information:

Kanawha County Clerk’s Office
409 Virginia St. East
Charleston, WV 25301

Phone: 304.357.0130
Fax: 304.357.0585
Email: info@kanawha.us

For marriages registered in Berkeley County, requests for certificates can be made in person or by mail.⁶ Users must fill out an application online and either bring it to the office or mail it to them to place an order.

In Berkeley, only people named on the certificate or directly connected with them are allowed to request a certificate of marriage. The records aren’t available to just anyone. Therefore, whoever comes in person must be ready to present a valid ID and explain the connection they have with the parties named on the certificate.

Those who prefer to order by mail must send a copy of the ID with the application (along with the payment via check or money order). Each certificate costs $5, and this is the address to contact them:

Berkeley County Courthouse
Vital Statistics Desk
100 West King St.
Martinsburg, WV 25401

Phone: 304.264.1927

Monongalia County is also available to provide citizens with marriage records.⁷ People can contact the clerk’s office in person, by mail, email, phone, or fax – whatever they prefer. The only requirement is that the interested party fill out an Application for a Marriage Certificate to facilitate the search process.

This is their contact information:

Monongalia County Clerk
243 High St., Courthouse Rm. 123
Morgantown, WV 26505

Phone: 304.291.7230
Fax: 304.291.7233
Email: vitals@monongaliacountyclerk.com

For those interested in ancient marriage records, other tools can be utilized, which generally yield better results than working with the clerk’s office. Those options will be addressed below.

How To Find Free Archived Marriage Records in West Virginia for Genealogy Research

The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History is the entity responsible for compiling and storing historical records, including vital records, which include marriage records. They provide a pathway for citizens to search free marital records using their online lookup tool.

This system allows for searches using the bride and groom’s name. It also allows people to search by county and narrow the year range to when the matrimony happened. A list on the right side of the screen shows the years available to be searched for each of West Virginia’s counties.

This tool is a free marriage license search, and citizens should take advantage of that when looking for family tree information whenever they need to.

The WV Culture & History Department also offers plenty of databases that can be searched for genealogy purposes.⁹ Their indexes contain relevant information that is kept accessible to the public and include newspapers, periodicals, and photographs, among many other things.

The Charleston Gazette Mail, for example, posts daily lists of marriage licenses filed in Kanawha County and their records can be searched online for past events.

Another tool that can be useful in searching for ancient information is the Library of Congress. They have a page that works as a guide for people interested in state marriage records that indicates where important information can be found.

How To Apply for & Submit a West Virginia Marriage License

Those who wish to get married in West Virginia must apply for a license at their local county clerk’s office. After the license is issued, the nuptials may take place anywhere within the state as long as it’s properly registered after the fact.

Marriages should be registered at the same clerk’s office that provided the license.

The Monongalia County Clerk’s Office explains in detail what is needed for a license to be granted. Both individuals in the couple must be at least 18 years old, not be blood-related to each other, and not legally married to someone else. The couple must appear at the clerk’s office in person and provide the following:

• Valid ID to prove their identity and age;
• Social Security Card or valid passport;
• A completed application;
• $57 to pay the fee (or $37 when there’s proof the couple underwent 4 hours of pre-marital counseling).

If applying for a license in Monongalia County, couples are advised to schedule an appointment instead of just walking in. This is the address where they should go to apply:

Monongalia County Clerk
243 High St. Courthouse Rm 123
Morgantown, WV 26505

Phone: 304.291.7230

Berkeley County also details the requirements for marriage licenses to be issued.¹¹ They’re available to the public at the following address:

Berkeley County Courthouse
100 West King St.
Martinsburg, WV 25401

Phone: 304.264.1927

Although each county clerk’s office is responsible for issuing and recording marriage licenses for the citizens under their jurisdiction, the rules are the same throughout the state. Therefore, readers can be assured that the same procedure will be in place in every county of West Virginia, no matter where they’ll need to go to apply for a marriage license.

Kanawha County, as expected, follows the same rules, and individuals interested in getting married there can contact the clerk’s office using the following information:

Kanawha County Clerk’s Office
409 Virginia St. East
Charleston, WV 25301

Phone: 304.357.0130
Fax: 304.357.0585
Email: info@kanawha.us

Whether someone is looking for martial information or applying for a license, West Virginia marriage records can be found quickly and efficiently by using the state and county agencies’ processes outlined here.

For those seeking documentation of marriages that have since been dissolved, the West Virginia divorce record lookup process will prove helpful; for a wider search of all public records throughout the state, citizens can follow the steps for obtaining WV public information for free.