NYC City Clerk Marriage Records
Marriage records for Bronx residents are handled by the New York City Clerk, which can provide records of marriages that took place in New York City: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The City Clerk covers marriage licenses issued from 1950 to the present. A Bronx marriage from that period is a City Clerk request, not a Bronx County Clerk court-record request, which is the single most common mix-up.
City Clerk offices are not taking walk-in marriage-record requests or amendments. Requesters must schedule an appointment through the City Clerk's online system before visiting a borough office, or use the mail process where available. Applications to amend a marriage record are accepted by mail only. For a marriage that happened outside New York City, the requester must use that jurisdiction's vital-record source.
Marriage History Lookup
A marriage history lookup is different from a marriage record. A spouse or prospective spouse can legally inquire about a person's marriage history at the Manhattan Records Room Division by filing a sworn search application. The fee is $5, payable by credit card or money order to the City Clerk. The result is yes or no only; no document is provided.
This matters for people planning to marry who need to confirm a prior marriage has ended. The history lookup is narrow by design, limited to a spouse or prospective spouse, and it does not produce a certificate. To obtain the actual record, the requester still has to go through the standard City Clerk marriage-record process.
Note: The $5 marriage history lookup returns only a yes or no answer and is limited to a spouse or prospective spouse using a sworn application.
How to Apply for a Marriage Record
Getting a Bronx marriage record follows a set sequence through the City Clerk. The key checkpoints are whether the marriage was in New York City and whether it falls in the 1950-to-present window the City Clerk maintains.
- Confirm the marriage took place in New York City and that the record is from 1950 to the present.
- Schedule a marriage-record appointment through the City Clerk's online system, or follow the City Clerk mail instructions.
- Bring valid, unexpired ID; for mail requests, include an accepted ID photocopy and payment.
- For a marriage history lookup only, use the Manhattan Records Room sworn search application and pay $5.
Historical marriage records from before 1950 are handled through NYC historical records and Municipal Archives pathways, not the current City Clerk 1950-present process.
Marriage Record Request Fields
The City Clerk marriage-record request relies on identity verification and basic marriage facts. The realistic field set, based on the City Clerk and NYC311 guidance, is below.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valid ID | Document | Yes | Unexpired; photocopy accepted by mail only |
| Spouse names | Text | Yes | Both parties as on the license |
| Marriage date | Date | Helpful | Speeds the City Clerk record search |
| NYC borough | Selection | Yes | Marriage must have occurred in NYC, 1950-present |
| Payment | Card / money order | Yes | Money order payable to the City Clerk |
Divorce Decrees vs Divorce Certificates
New York recognizes two divorce-record types, and they come from different offices. A divorce decree is prepared by the court, signed by the judge, and filed with the County Clerk, usually in the county where the plaintiff resided. A divorce certificate is a vital-record summary held by the New York State Department of Health for divorces and civil annulments granted on or after January 1, 1963. If the divorce was before January 1, 1963, the decree is the only document available.
To get a Bronx divorce decree, the requester contacts the Bronx County Clerk. To get a divorce certificate, the requester contacts the New York State Department of Health. The decree carries the full terms and conditions of the divorce; the certificate is a short vital-record summary of who divorced and when.
The DOH divorce page explains the difference between a divorce decree from the court and a divorce certificate from the state.
Bronx County Clerk Divorce Access Limits
A Bronx divorce decree is not an ordinary public civil file. The Bronx County Clerk restricts certified divorce decree copies to a party to the action, an attorney of record, or a person holding an affidavit or notarized letter signed by a party or attorney granting authority. New York domestic-relations confidentiality keeps matrimonial files closed to general public browsing.
This restriction surprises people who assume any court file can be pulled like a tort docket. The divorce happened in a public Supreme Court building, but the file itself is protected. Anyone seeking a Bronx divorce decree should expect to prove they are an eligible requester before the Clerk will release a certified copy. The Bronx County Clerk page covers the written-request process and payment rules.
Filing for Divorce in Bronx County
A Bronx divorce is a Supreme Court matter, filed through the Bronx County Clerk or through NYSCEF where eligible. The basic path runs from residency and grounds through judgment and certified copies.
- Confirm New York residency requirements and the divorce grounds using NY Courts divorce resources.
- Prepare the summons, complaint or uncontested divorce packet, and required matrimonial papers.
- File in Bronx Supreme Court through the Bronx County Clerk or NYSCEF if eligible, and pay the index-number and filing fees unless a fee-waiver order applies.
- Serve the spouse and file proof of service.
- Submit settlement, support, custody, net-worth, and judgment papers as required.
- After the judgment is signed and filed, request certified decree copies from the County Clerk under the access restrictions.
Self-represented filers can use NY Courts divorce resources and fee-waiver forms; the Bronx court records page explains how to search the resulting Supreme Court case.
Marriage and Divorce Record Fees
Fees split across offices. Marriage history is a City Clerk charge; divorce filing and decree certification are Bronx County Clerk charges. The table lists the fees confirmed in official Bronx and New York sources.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marriage history lookup | $5 |
| Bronx Supreme Court index number for a divorce action | $210 |
| Certification of a Supreme Court document or divorce decree | $8 |
| Plain copy per page (minimum $1.50) | $0.65 |
| Divorce certificate from DOH | Set by the Department of Health |
Bronx County Clerk fees are paid by U.S. postal money order, certified check, or NYS attorney's check; cash is accepted only in person, and personal checks are not accepted.
Confidentiality of Bronx Matrimonial Records
New York treats matrimonial files as confidential, which is why a Bronx divorce decree is restricted even though it lives in a public court building. The user-facing rule is simple: a divorce happened in Supreme Court, but the file is not browsable like a regular civil docket. Eligible requesters can obtain certified copies; the general public cannot read the file.
Related family matters carry their own protections. Custody, support, and family-offense cases are handled in Bronx Family Court and are restricted under Family Court Act § 166. The Bronx public records page covers how court confidentiality differs from agency FOIL access. For a divorce that ended years after it began, the County Clerk searches by the year the case started, not the year it finished, so a 1995 filing that closed in 2008 is searched starting in 1995.