You’re here because you want to look up marriage records in Illinois. You may want to find out if someone got married recently, if someone applied for a marriage license or you may want to find out if someone is really divorced. Regardless of your reason, I will show you how to look up for free Illinois marriage records online or in person. You will be able to see a copy of the marriage license because marriage records are public record, order a copy of the certificate and or just view the online record. All you will need is the applicant’s names and possibly a date of when they got married.

Illinois Department of Public Health Marriage Records

Marriage records are not kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records. Certified copies are only available at the county clerk in the county where the marriage occurred. (List of County Clerks).

How to Obtain a Marriage Verification

To obtain a marriage verification, you must submit the following:

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index

  • For marriage records occurring 1763-1900. Since 1985 the Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) has cooperated with the Illinois State Archives to create an index to Illinois marriages occurring prior to 1901. Today more than one million marriages, or two million names, are included in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index. So if you’re looking for a marriage to help build out your family tree or for other genealogical reasons then this marriage index will help you with that.

Cook County Marriage Certificates

  • Cook County Vital Records keeps official records of marriages that occur in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
  • A marriage license is filed with the Clerk’s Bureau of Vital Records after the marriage ceremony takes place. The officiant performing the ceremony completes and signs the marriage license and returns it to the Clerk’s office, where it is recorded.
  • After that occurs, the Clerk’s office can issue you a certified copy of your marriage certificate upon request. Marriage certificates are not automatically sent to couples.

How To Obtain a Marriage Verification in Illinois

  • Information on how to get a marriage verification record. You can get a copy by mail, by fax or in person.

Madison County Illinois Marriage License

  • Where to apply and when to apply for a marriage license in Madison County

Lake County Illinois Marriage Records

  • Who can request a marriage record?

A marriage record may be requested by:

  • Those named in the record, child of person named in the record, a family member, or
    another individual acting as an agent or legal representative of the person named in the record.
    Exceptions to these restrictions apply to those interested in Genealogical Research.

Using the resources above you will be able to search marriage records for free in Illinois. You will probably have to pay to get a copy of a marriage record but in some cases you will not have to pay a fee to access a marriage record. You can search the marriage record indexes by name and date range to conduct a marital status check or to get a copy.