How we compile marriage-license requirements by state
We build one honest, statute-cited table per state from public-record state law and official .gov sources — then we tell you exactly where a figure is representative (county-set fees) and must be confirmed on the issuing county clerk's own schedule. This page explains how, and what we deliberately do not do.
Who’s behind this site
Marriage License by State is an independent publisher operated by VentureCorp, Inc. We are not a law firm, a court, a county clerk, or a government agency, and we do not give legal advice. The site answers one question accurately: what are the marriage-license fee, waiting period and requirements in a given state?
Where our data comes from
| Data | Source | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| State marriage-license rules (fee, waiting, age, ID, blood-test, witnesses) | Public-record state family / marriage law — facts of law, not copyrightable (Feist) | Every per-state page |
| Issuing-agency descriptions | State vital-records / health-department / court (.gov) sites — the per-row primary source | Per-state guides and the requirements pages |
| County-set fees | The issuing county clerk's own fee schedule — cited per row as a representative value | Fee-and-waiting pages and the fee-model comparison |
| Governing statute | The cited state statute / act for each rule | Every per-state page |
The marriage-license FEE is county-set in 32 of 51 jurisdictions, so the amount we show for those states is a representative range, not an authoritative figure — every fee page tells you to confirm the exact amount on the issuing county clerk's own schedule. Rows flagged medium-confidence (mostly county-set-fee states, or a statute section still being pinned) are re-verified on publish. We republish no agency prose; the facts of law are public record.
How we calculate
Each jurisdiction is one row, compiled from the governing state statute plus the issuing agency's own page (state vital-records / health-dept / court, or the county-clerk system where licenses issue at the county level). Where the fee is county-set we record a representative range with a 'varies by county' qualifier rather than a fabricated precise number. Structural outliers — Alabama (no license issued since 2019), self-solemnization states, Montana's waivable blood test, the under-18 bans — are flagged and described per state. We re-run the pass semiannually, aligned to legislative sessions, and re-verify each state on publish.
What we deliberately leave out. We give no legal advice and we are not a substitute for the issuing county clerk or an attorney. We do not fabricate a precise fee where the fee is county-set, and we do not publish a figure we could not tie to a primary source.
Independence & how we make money
Some links on this site may be affiliate links; if you act on one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Partners never see or influence which fees, rules or statutes we publish, and no placement is for sale.
Keeping it current
Family codes commonly change on January 1 / July 1, and county fees drift, so we re-run the full pass semiannually and re-verify each state on publish. Each page carries its verification date; current verification: June 2026.
Corrections
Spot an error? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Contact us →