When it comes to Kentucky marriage records, individuals may be looking for information to enable them to complete family histories. These records provide a significant amount of helpful information for the family, including information about the maiden names of married couples or the information about older relatives.

However, in some situations, these records can also be helpful in learning the place a person lived or the property he or she owned, especially in older cases where records provided much more information. It is possible to obtain many of these older records, but to locate this information, individuals do need to seek out the most accurate sources available.
 

One of the biggest problems with gathering Kentucky marriage records is that much of this data is not available for the early portion of the country's history. The state itself did not keep records during its initial founding. However, most vital records were gathered by 1852 in Kentucky. Statewide, a law was put in place to register individuals that were born or died in the state by that time. However, during the initial years of this law, compliance was limited.

Therefore, the laws enacted at that time were loosed just ten years after putting them in place. This makes it difficult to find vital records in Kentucky from the period of 1872 through 1910. However, in January of 1911, a law was put into place that required all birth and death reports to be provided.
 

As far as Kentucky marriage records, those were kept in the county hands since the beginning of the forming of counties in the state. In some cases, these area offices kept information prior to the official formation of the counties, too. That makes marriage records through these county offices more likely to be available. The state only started requiring the registration of marriage records of those married in the state in 1958. However, all births and deaths, and many marriages after 1911 are at least indexed through the Office of Vital Statistics in the state.
 

For those that are hoping to gather Kentucky marriage records from prior to 1911, there are several options. You can obtain this information from the local county records providers. In addition to this, you can access the state's records and archived information through the following address:

Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives
 

Public Records

300 Coffee Tree Rd

PO Box 537

Frankfort, Kentucky 40602-0537
 

For those who are seeking registrations from after 1958, this information is available through the following location in most cases.

Department of Health Services

Vital Statistics

375 East Main St

Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
 

Gathering Kentucky marriage records can be a rewarding experience, especially since many of these records provide information on things such as the names of parents, maiden names, location of the wedding and the date of it. In addition, some records are useful for property searches since the location of the couple's home may be listed. This information is not complete for the oldest records in the state, though.

• Kentucky Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

• Kentucky Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

• Kentucky Marriage Certificates & Records

• Kentucky Marriage License Laws