Florida Marriage License

Even though the state of Florida has established a number of rules for obtaining a marriage license, it is necessary to contact the county clerk’s office for more detailed information.

Steps to get a marriage license in Florida

• To start with, you and your partner must visit the nearest County Clerk’s Office and apply for the marriage license
• Secondly, you must present the required documentation and
• Thirdly, you and your partner must take a four-hour premarital preparation course from an approved and registered provider. The course touches on various important topics, such as conflict management, financial and parenting responsibilities
• You can also choose to wait for three days so that the license becomes authentic
• Another requirement is reading the Marriage Handbook
• You will also be required to fill out the Affirmation of Children Born in Florida form (if you have children together)
• Once you receive the Florida marriage license, it is valid for only 60 days. Therefore, you will need to organize the wedding ceremony before it is due to expire
• After the wedding ceremony, the person, who performed your marriage ceremony, will need to complete the marriage license, particularly the section of Certificate of Marriage. Both you and the official have the right to return the completed marriage license to the Clerk’s office in the county, which issued the license. This way you will officially record your marriage

Note that both of you will not have to take blood/medical tests, as well as be a resident of Florida (or county) to receive the marriage license.

Required documents

• A valid driver’s license
• State identification card
• Passport
• Social Security Number
• An alien registration number issued by Immigration and Naturalization Service (for those, who are not a US citizen)
• A final judgment of divorce/dissolution of marriage or annulment (in case you decided you end your last marriage with a court order)
• The date of ending last marriage (if one of you was previously married)

List of people who can perform marriage ceremonies in Florida

• Ordained ministers of the gospel
• Elders in communion with a church
• Other ordained clergy
• Active judicial officers, as well as retired judicial officers
• Florida public notaries
• Captains of a ship (providing that he is a notary)
• Clerks of the Circuit Court

You and your partner may freely decide the place, where you want the wedding ceremony to take place.

Florida marriage license fees

• Marriage License Fee: $86 (the fee also includes the certified license copy)
• Marriage Ceremony Fee: $30
• Certified Copy of a Marriage License Fee: $3
• Duplicate License Fee: $32
• Amended License Fee: $42.5
• Partial License Fee: $96.5

It might be useful to know that both of you may get a discount providing that you successfully complete a premarital preparation course.

You are allowed to make the payments by cash, money order, traveler’s check, credit card and a personal check.

Age requirements for a Florida marriage license

• You can legally get married if you are 18 years of age or older
• If you are at least 17 years of age, you can get married providing that you have the consent of both of your parents or a legal guardian. In case one of the partners is 17 years old, the other partner (male or female) can only be two years older than him/her. For 17-year olds, a premarital course is also essential and they must complete it
• Minors, who are under 17 years of age, cannot marry each other in Florida. However, if a minor is pregnant, then she may marry at any age as long as they have parental permission and a judge’s approval

List of persons, who you can and cannot marry

• In the first place, you cannot marry a relative of yours, who is related to you by lineal consanguinity. The closes you may get is to marry a first cousin (which, however, is not a welcome step)
• The state of Florida allows same-sex marriages. Thus, couples of the same gender can get married according to the law
• Florida does not allow marriage by proxy
• You cannot marry someone, who is still in a marital relationship with another person (to clarify, not divorced)
• Virtual weddings are not legal

Duplicate marriage license

In case you or your partner accidentally destroyed or lost your Florida marriage license, you may obtain a new one. All you will need to do is make an appearance together at the Clerk’s office and present valid forms of identification.

As soon as you present proper documents and fulfill the required steps, you will need to pay the duplicate license fee of $32 and receive it.

Learn how to find records of your Florida marriage license

In the state of Florida, marriage license are public. However, they sometimes do not include personal information, such as the date of birth, Social Security Number and so on.

To find the records of your marriage license, you must find the official website of the County, where you live and which issued the license. Once you do, you will be able to use their online tool to obtain necessary information.

If you, for example, live in Hillsborough County, you may use their online search tool for obtaining necessary official records. You will need to enter the required data, by filling the blank boxes. The online search tool will ask you to provide information about the person type, last/first name of the spouse, as well as other helping information.

How long it takes to get your Florida marriage license

After submitting required documents and signing the application form with your significant other, you will have to wait for three days to receive the license. It will automatically expire within 60 days if you do not manage to perform the wedding ceremony during this period.

Thus, it is wise of you to think about the wedding ceremony destination, arrange and think of every possible detail in advance, so that you do not waste additional time on organizational matters and run out of your time.

Contact Information

Bureau of Vital Statistics
1217 N. Pearl St.
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phone: (904)359-6900