Getting a Marriage License in Riverside County
The Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, known as the ACR, issues all marriage licenses in the county. The Superior Court does not. The ACR is led by Peter Aldana. The main office sits at the Riverside Gateway location at 2724 Gateway Drive, with a second downtown counter at 4080 Lemon Street. Branch offices are open in Palm Desert, Hemet, Temecula, and Blythe. Both parties must appear together at one ACR counter to pick up the license. The application can be filled out online first to save time, but the license itself is only handed over in person.
California offers two license types. A public marriage license is open to any unmarried adults, can be used anywhere in the state, and needs at least one witness at the ceremony. A confidential marriage license is open only to two unmarried adults who already live together as spouses. A confidential license needs no ceremony witness, but a copy can be released only to the couple or someone with a court order. Both kinds last for 90 days from issuance under Family Code §359 and cannot be extended; if the couple does not marry in that window, the license is void and a new one must be bought.
How to Apply for a Marriage License in Riverside County
The basic path is the same whether the couple plans a public or a confidential license. Plan the visit before the wedding date. Allow time for an in-person appointment, because most ACR locations ask that the application be done online before walk-in. Both people sign the license under penalty of perjury. The fee is due at the counter. There are no refunds for unused, lost, or destroyed licenses.
- Pick a license type at webselfservice.riversideacr.com and fill out the online application.
- Schedule an appointment at one of the ACR offices, or check whether the office takes walk-ins.
- Both parties come together to the counter with current government-issued photo ID.
- Sign the license under oath and pay the fee in cash, by check, or by debit or credit card.
- Hold the ceremony within 90 days; the officiant returns the signed license for recording.
- Order certified marriage certificate copies from the ACR after the license is recorded.
Marriage License Application Fields in Riverside County
The online marriage license wizard moves through 16 steps. The court application is filed under Family Code §359. Each applicant gives identity, age, and prior-marriage data. The list below covers the public fields the ACR wizard exposes; later steps that capture full name and address are not shown to outside users until the application is started.
Family Code §359 is the statute behind every Riverside marriage license issued at the ACR.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| License Type | Yes | Public or confidential; selected on landing page. |
| Full Legal Name (each party) | Yes | Name in use right before marriage; matches photo ID. |
| Date of Birth | Yes | Both parties must be 18 or older or have a court order. |
| Place of Birth | Yes | State or country, used for the record. |
| Parents' Names | Yes | Captured on the wizard for the marriage record. |
| Prior Marriages | Yes | End date and method (divorce, annulment, or death) for the last marriage. |
| Witness Names | Conditional | One witness required for public license; none for confidential. |
| Sworn Statement | Yes | Both parties sign under penalty of perjury. |
| Payment | Yes | Cash, check, ATM debit, or credit card with 2.15% processing fee. |
| Military POA | Conditional | For overseas service members; two officers or notary required. |
Wedding Ceremonies and Deputy Commissioner for the Day
The Gateway and other ACR offices perform civil ceremonies on-site, but a couple may also pick any solemnizer allowed under California law, such as a clergy member or a sitting judge. Riverside also offers the Deputy Commissioner for the Day program. A family member or friend over 18 can be sworn in as a one-day deputy and perform the ceremony for the couple. The non-refundable Deputy Commissioner for the Day fee is $62.00. The deputy reads a short oath, the couple exchanges vows, and the deputy signs the license like any other officiant.
Riverside County Marriage and Divorce Fees
Marriage fees come from the ACR. Divorce filing and copy fees come from the Superior Court. Card payments add a 2.15% third-party processing fee on the ACR side. Cash, check, and money order are also accepted.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Public marriage license (ACR) | $111.00 |
| Confidential marriage license (ACR) | Verify current ACR fee schedule |
| Deputy Commissioner for the Day | $62.00 non-refundable |
| ACR official records copy, first page | $8.00 |
| ACR additional page, same document | $1.00 |
| ACR certification | $2.00 per document |
| Card processing fee (ACR) | 2.15% third-party fee |
| Court name search credit (Public Portal) | $1.00 per credit and up |
| Court document download | $1.00 per page first 5, $0.50 after, $50 cap |
| Paid clerk records search | $15.00 per search |
How to Look Up Riverside County Marriage Records
Public marriage licenses are public records once recorded with the ACR. The county runs an official records search at webselfservice.riversideacr.com that lets the public look up a recorded license by name, document number, or date range. The free search returns the index entry; copies cost $8.00 for the first page, $1.00 for each added page in the same document, and $2.00 for the certification. The ACR also warns that once a copy is made the fee is final and no refunds are given, so a user should confirm the right record before adding it to the cart.
Confidential marriage licenses are not public records. The ACR releases a certified copy only to the couple, or to a person who shows up with a court order. To search a confidential license, the couple uses the same ACR system but must show ID at pickup. For licenses issued long ago, California Department of Public Health Vital Records also keeps statewide marriage indexes. Local color: in Riverside the busiest ACR counter for marriage tends to be Gateway, while Palm Desert and Temecula run smaller ceremony rooms with shorter wait times.
How to Find Riverside County Divorce Records
Divorce is a Superior Court case, not an ACR record. The Family Law Division at riverside.courts.ca.gov/divisions/family-law handles dissolution, legal separation, nullity, parentage, custody, visitation, support, and domestic violence orders. The main family law courthouse is the Riverside Family Law Courthouse at 4175 Main Street, with family law calendars also at Larson Justice Center in Indio, Murrieta Southwest Justice Center, Palm Springs, Banning, and other outlying buildings. Use the Riverside Superior Court Public Portal to search a divorce case by party name or by case number; almost all family law cases from April 1992 forward are online.
Family law files mix public docket data with restricted documents. The register of actions, calendars, and basic case info are visible to anyone with an account. Full document images, financial disclosures, custody evaluations, and child interviews are limited to courthouse access or party access under California Rules of Court rule 2.503. For a certified divorce decree, the court counter is the right stop. Local form RI-MC002 is the request form for record searches and copies, and clerks ask for the case number, party names, and a self-addressed stamped envelope when the request is mailed in.
Getting Certified Copies of Marriage and Divorce Records
Certified copies are the official version of a record. Banks, immigration officers, and the Social Security Administration usually ask for a certified copy, not a print-out. For marriage, the ACR prints and stamps certified marriage certificate copies after the license has been returned by the officiant and recorded. For divorce, the Superior Court clerk certifies the final judgment, the dissolution order, or any other family law document a user names on the request form. Plain copies are cheaper but cannot be used as proof of marital status or proof of divorce in most agency settings.
Processing time is usually a few weeks by mail and same-day in person if the file is on the shelf. For older Riverside court files, the clerk may need extra time to pull the case from off-site storage. Older retention rules under Government Code §68152 also let the court destroy some records after the statute's retention window, so a very old file may no longer exist.
Tip. Bring or include a self-addressed stamped envelope with every mailed request to speed up the return.
California Vital Records Office
The California Department of Public Health Vital Records Office keeps statewide marriage and divorce indexes. The state office can issue certified marriage copies for any California county, but local copies from Riverside ACR are usually faster. The state holds full marriage records starting in 1949 forward, with gaps; divorce indexes are partial and a user is often sent back to the county court for the actual decree.
California Department of Public Health Vital Records
P.O. Box 997410
Sacramento, CA 95899-7410
916-445-2684
Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.