What do I do with our marriage certificate?

redheadbride15 · July 2015

Okay, this may be a stupid question but we just got our official marriage certificate in the mail and I don't know what to do with it. I suppose I put it some place safe? Maybe make some photocopies of it? What important "life stuff" should I anticipate needing to present it for? For those of you who are already married, what did you do with yours? Have you had to use it for anything? FWIW, I'm not planning to change my name.

luckya23 · July 2015

The bank said I will need it to put my name on his accounts.

Other than that, in the safe I guess!

lyndausvi · July 2015

If either of you are being added to any insurances, they often need a copy of the marriage.

Other than that keep it in a safe places along with other important papers. It should be in a fire safe or safety deposit box.

ETA - as far as health insurance goes, we worked for a company that every few years they did a big audit of all dependants on an employee's healthcare. You had to re-submit birth certificates for children, marriage certs for marriages and other documentation for domestic partnerships.

So needing the certificate does come up from time to time, but like your BC, not very often.

novella1186 · July 2015

So far I've only used mine for name change stuff and since you're not doing that, you may not need it much. As linda said, put it in a safe or safety deposit box. Then you know exactly where it is and nothing will happen to it in case you do end up needing it.

FWIW, I found my parents' marriage license in a box in their attic a few years ago. It was a cool thing to find, and I showed my mom, which she thought was cool cuz she hadn't seen it in around 30 years. That's how often you need it lol

AddieCake · July 2015

It's filed away along with the certified copies of it.

MyNameIsNot · July 2015

I needed ours to get on H's insurance.

I scanned it and emailed it to myself so I'll always have a copy handy. Then I put the original in a file drawer. It's eventually my intention to put it in our wedding album, when I finally get around to making a wedding album.

Maggie0829 · July 2015

I just used mine for name changing stuff and it has been in my file cabinet ever since.

loveislouder · July 2015

I used mine for name changes. It's currently on my desk at work so I don't lose it at home while we're trying to organize.

paperpusher · July 2015

I used mine for name change on my social security card, license, passport, bank accounts, Notary license, and PayPal account.

I can't think of anything else other than that.

It is currently tucked away in the safe.

redheadbride15 · July 2015

Thanks ladies! It just feels so strange to have this little piece of paper in my hand which seems sooooooo important and I feel like I must be missing something.

Not planning a name change or a switch in our health insurance coverage at this point. We're already listed as each other's insurance beneficiaries (we set that up before we were married - they allow you to list whomever, regardless of relationship). So, I guess I don't need it immediately for anything - it will just go in the fireproof cabinet with our birth certificates, etc. I'm just dying to show it to SOMEONE because I find it so exciting!

novella1186 · July 2015

redheadbride15 said:

Thanks ladies! It just feels so strange to have this little piece of paper in my hand which seems sooooooo important and I feel like I must be missing something.

Not planning a name change or a switch in our health insurance coverage at this point. We're already listed as each other's insurance beneficiaries (we set that up before we were married - they allow you to list whomever, regardless of relationship). So, I guess I don't need it immediately for anything - it will just go in the fireproof cabinet with our birth certificates, etc. I'm just dying to show it to SOMEONE because I find it so exciting!

You could always show us

(and of course photoshop out the personal info or whatever)

CMGragain · July 2015

Well, you need it for any genealogy purposes. This became a huge hobby with DH and me.

WinstonsGirl · July 2015

Ours is in a plastic bin in the basement. We haven't needed it for anything

PandaNikki · July 2015

We put ours in our firebox- I needed it for name-changing and I think for health insurance but that's about it. It is exciting to have it in your hands though! Makes everything feel "officially-official".

huskypuppy14 · July 2015

We didn't need it for H to be added to my insurance. I think you just keep in case anyone asks for it.

twoleighs · July 2015

I've only needed it for name change and to be added to H's insurance.

We did get a couple extra certified copies (just in case) and I might be the dork that frames the original in a nice frame with a wedding picture (once I get those back).

The only thing I can think of that requires me parting with it is getting a new passport with my new name. Just like my BC when I got my first passport, it looks like they want a certified copy sent to them that they'll just send back.

princessleia22 · July 2015

You may need it in the future to prove that you are married, especially without name change. I changed my last name, but before I got it changed everywhere I did have a couple times that people asked for it to prove we were married... they tend to believe it less with different last names. But, really you will need it very rarely. I ordered 3 "official" copies of mine, so I could send one off for passport while still handling local name change stuff. I have one in our home safe, one in our safe deposit box at bank, and one sitting with my pile of forms for places that I haven't changed my name yet (a year after the wedding). You probably only need one copy, or two at most, though. So, just keep it somewhere safe and accessible in case you need it, just like you would with your birth certificate.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

lyndausvi said:
If either of you are being added to any insurances, they often need a copy of the marriage.

Other than that keep it in a safe places along with other important papers. It should be in a fire safe or safety deposit box.

ETA - as far as health insurance goes, we worked for a company that every few years they did a big audit of all dependants on an employee's healthcare. You had to re-submit birth certificates for children, marriage certs for marriages and other documentation for domestic partnerships.

So needing the certificate does come up from time to time, but like your BC, not very often.

Yes insurance audits are becoming more and more common- keep that thing handy. My company is 125 years old and we just started requiring them for new applicants and we're doing an audit of all existing dependents. We've already caught a shit ton of people on the policy who should not have been according to the coverage guidelines.

mrscomposer · July 2015

I ordered two copies so that I could do my passport and local stuff at the same time... now they're both sitting in my desk drawer. One'll eventually go into our wedding album (heavy on the eventually).

I'm now thinking we should get a fireproof box for all our official papers, so thanks for that, everyone.

lovesclimbing · July 2015

I haven't needed it since I changed my name six months after the wedding. We've been married for two and a half years. It sits in our filing cabinet along with other important documents.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

mrscomposer said:

I ordered two copies so that I could do my passport and local stuff at the same time... now they're both sitting in my desk drawer. One'll eventually go into our wedding album (heavy on the eventually).
I'm now thinking we should get a fireproof box for all our official papers, so thanks for that, everyone.

Hey, I've heard that fireproof boxes are not necessarily waterproof. Which seems silly, yes? So I have all my papers in ziploc baggies in my fire safe. Just saying since it'd be a shame to have all your papers saved from the fire only to have them ravaged by the water that puts out the fire.

princessleia22 · July 2015

adk19 said:

mrscomposer said:

I ordered two copies so that I could do my passport and local stuff at the same time... now they're both sitting in my desk drawer. One'll eventually go into our wedding album (heavy on the eventually).
I'm now thinking we should get a fireproof box for all our official papers, so thanks for that, everyone.

Hey, I've heard that fireproof boxes are not necessarily waterproof. Which seems silly, yes? So I have all my papers in ziploc baggies in my fire safe. Just saying since it'd be a shame to have all your papers saved from the fire only to have them ravaged by the water that puts out the fire.

DH has always had his birth certificate in a gallon size ziplock, just as extra protection, since it is a 40+ year old piece of paper. I thought it was a great idea, so we now have both our birth cert's and our marriage cert in ziplocks, inside our safe. I figure that paper is pretty fragile and it doesn't hurt to give that extra protection to important items. Plus, if we are handling them for any reason, it gives some extra protection against ripping.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

princessleia22 said:

adk19 said:

mrscomposer said:

I ordered two copies so that I could do my passport and local stuff at the same time... now they're both sitting in my desk drawer. One'll eventually go into our wedding album (heavy on the eventually).
I'm now thinking we should get a fireproof box for all our official papers, so thanks for that, everyone.

Hey, I've heard that fireproof boxes are not necessarily waterproof. Which seems silly, yes? So I have all my papers in ziploc baggies in my fire safe. Just saying since it'd be a shame to have all your papers saved from the fire only to have them ravaged by the water that puts out the fire.

DH has always had his birth certificate in a gallon size ziplock, just as extra protection, since it is a 40+ year old piece of paper. I thought it was a great idea, so we now have both our birth cert's and our marriage cert in ziplocks, inside our safe. I figure that paper is pretty fragile and it doesn't hurt to give that extra protection to important items. Plus, if we are handling them for any reason, it gives some extra protection against ripping.

And the external hard drive I have in my fire safe is double-bagged. If my home burns down, I'll lose all my photo albums. That hard drive will be my only way to get them back.

princessleia22 · July 2015

adk19 said:

princessleia22 said:

adk19 said:

mrscomposer said:

I ordered two copies so that I could do my passport and local stuff at the same time... now they're both sitting in my desk drawer. One'll eventually go into our wedding album (heavy on the eventually).
I'm now thinking we should get a fireproof box for all our official papers, so thanks for that, everyone.

Hey, I've heard that fireproof boxes are not necessarily waterproof. Which seems silly, yes? So I have all my papers in ziploc baggies in my fire safe. Just saying since it'd be a shame to have all your papers saved from the fire only to have them ravaged by the water that puts out the fire.

DH has always had his birth certificate in a gallon size ziplock, just as extra protection, since it is a 40+ year old piece of paper. I thought it was a great idea, so we now have both our birth cert's and our marriage cert in ziplocks, inside our safe. I figure that paper is pretty fragile and it doesn't hurt to give that extra protection to important items. Plus, if we are handling them for any reason, it gives some extra protection against ripping.

And the external hard drive I have in my fire safe is double-bagged. If my home burns down, I'll lose all my photo albums. That hard drive will be my only way to get them back.

Unless you have a safe rated for data protection, I would back up the photos on a cloud server. Typical fire-resistant safes will protect paper from charring and burning, but it still gets really hot in there. Often it will still get hot enough to melt or destroy electronics. We learned about this a while back (luckily, we didn't learn from first hand experience).

"The term fireproof is a very misleading statement and too many companies use it to describe their fire safes. So what should the fire rating say? It should say “resistant to fire” for a particular period of time. Not fire proof . Customers come into our showroom on a daily basis and ask for a fire safe to protect their Important paperwork, money, pictures and other delicate or sensitive items like , data and media (photos, CDs/DVDs and computer disks/tapes, etc) We gladly show them the differences and options that will protect their valuables the most effective way. Most of these items are sensitive to heat and humidity/moisture and a standard fire resistant safe is not engineered to specifically protect against these things. Fire resistant safes are engineered and designed to protect paper and keep the internal temperature of the safe below 350 degrees, which is the critical temperature where paper will start to char and burn. This method of protection creates steam (moisture) inside the safe. Any sensitive data or media will be badly damaged or destroyed between 120 to 180 degrees or 85% humidity. Think of the inside of a car on a hot summer day. If you have any special data or media that you need to protect against fire, a data/media safe is what you should consider purchasing. These safes will keep the inside temperature below 135 degrees as well as the humidity below 85%. Most data and media safes do not offer burglary protection . As an inexpensive option you can purchase a small U.L. rated fire lock box that you can place inside a larger fire safe ( Gun Safe) for your more delicate items, this is one way to protect you data / media without purchasing a more expensive data safe."

[Deleted User] · July 2015

princessleia22 said:

adk19 said:

princessleia22 said:

adk19 said:

mrscomposer said:

I ordered two copies so that I could do my passport and local stuff at the same time... now they're both sitting in my desk drawer. One'll eventually go into our wedding album (heavy on the eventually).
I'm now thinking we should get a fireproof box for all our official papers, so thanks for that, everyone.

Hey, I've heard that fireproof boxes are not necessarily waterproof. Which seems silly, yes? So I have all my papers in ziploc baggies in my fire safe. Just saying since it'd be a shame to have all your papers saved from the fire only to have them ravaged by the water that puts out the fire.

DH has always had his birth certificate in a gallon size ziplock, just as extra protection, since it is a 40+ year old piece of paper. I thought it was a great idea, so we now have both our birth cert's and our marriage cert in ziplocks, inside our safe. I figure that paper is pretty fragile and it doesn't hurt to give that extra protection to important items. Plus, if we are handling them for any reason, it gives some extra protection against ripping.

And the external hard drive I have in my fire safe is double-bagged. If my home burns down, I'll lose all my photo albums. That hard drive will be my only way to get them back.

Unless you have a safe rated for data protection, I would back up the photos on a cloud server. Typical fire-resistant safes will protect paper from charring and burning, but it still gets really hot in there. Often it will still get hot enough to melt or destroy electronics. We learned about this a while back (luckily, we didn't learn from first hand experience).

"The term fireproof is a very misleading statement and too many companies use it to describe their fire safes. So what should the fire rating say? It should say “resistant to fire” for a particular period of time. Not fire proof . Customers come into our showroom on a daily basis and ask for a fire safe to protect their Important paperwork, money, pictures and other delicate or sensitive items like , data and media (photos, CDs/DVDs and computer disks/tapes, etc) We gladly show them the differences and options that will protect their valuables the most effective way. Most of these items are sensitive to heat and humidity/moisture and a standard fire resistant safe is not engineered to specifically protect against these things. Fire resistant safes are engineered and designed to protect paper and keep the internal temperature of the safe below 350 degrees, which is the critical temperature where paper will start to char and burn. This method of protection creates steam (moisture) inside the safe. Any sensitive data or media will be badly damaged or destroyed between 120 to 180 degrees or 85% humidity. Think of the inside of a car on a hot summer day. If you have any special data or media that you need to protect against fire, a data/media safe is what you should consider purchasing. These safes will keep the inside temperature below 135 degrees as well as the humidity below 85%. Most data and media safes do not offer burglary protection . As an inexpensive option you can purchase a small U.L. rated fire lock box that you can place inside a larger fire safe ( Gun Safe) for your more delicate items, this is one way to protect you data / media without purchasing a more expensive data safe."

Wow. Thanks. Maybe I'll buy a second external hard drive and keep it at mom's house. That way I have my info if her house burns down, and her info if my house burns down. AND I'll put things on the cloud. (Well, except for my nudie pics, those aren't safe in the cloud.)

What do I do with our marriage certificate?

Re: What do I do with our marriage certificate?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards