Marriage Certificate Questions

Ava3410

If you are indexing a marriage certificate do you index the current name or the name it is going to be after the marriage?

If you are indexing a marriage certificate do you index the mother of the principal/spouse's maiden or surname?

How do you decide who is the principal and who is the spouse?

erutherford

You will index what it is at the time of marriage. We do not assume anything in indexing, including whether or not a bride will take the groom's surname. In other words, you do not index what you don't see.

You will index the mother's maiden name before her current surname. Ex: Mother's name is Mary Smith Jones. Smith is her maiden name, so her surname will be indexed as Smith Jones.

The principal is the first person listed on the certificate, so if Mike Jones is marrying Bessie Smith, Mike will be your principal.

Ava3410