Process for Obtaining a Missouri Marriage License

If you want to know about marriage license laws in Missouri, there are two broad questions to be answered. First, what do you need to know about Missouri marriage laws to complete and submit a marriage license application in the state? Secondly, what documents do you need to provide in support to help you to get your application accepted and processed without hassles?

The rules for getting marriage licenses vary from state to state, and within a state they could also vary from county to county. They might also be changed. That means when you actually apply for your Missouri marriage license, the rules may well have changed; so, you just have to check out the rules at your Clerk of Court's office when you do apply.

You would be well advised to submit your application for a marriage license about a month ahead of the wedding date you have set. This way, you will be playing it safe. The period of validity of marriage licenses also varies, from a few days in some states to a year, and in some states there is no expiration. Remember this so that you take nothing for granted and end up having your license expire before your wedding day.

Marriage License Regulations in Missouri

In Missouri, a marriage license stays valid only up to 30 days from its issue. This is true in all except for at least one county in Missouri where marriage licenses are valid for only 15 days. After the license expires, you have to repeat the entire process to get another one, so be careful.

The state has repealed the three-day waiting period that it previously imposed – there is none imposed today. To be eligible for a license, you need supporting records to establish your identity and age, such as a birth certificate, and similar other documents that have been fully authenticated. In Missouri, your identity can be established by a picture ID such as driver’s license and Social Security card.

You (bride and groom) must both present yourselves in person to apply for a marriage license before the Recorder of Deeds of any Missouri county. Once you have obtained your marriage license, you can be married in any county in Missouri in the next 30 days.

You’ll need to find out if you must have witnesses when you sign the license application. If that is a requirement, people will often try to get the maid of honor or the best man, or both (depending on the jurisdiction’s rules) to go along as witnesses to the County Clerk’s office.

The bride may also need to include what her married name will be on the final marriage certificate. She will now have the opportunity to specify that name on the marriage license application.

Applicants in some states are required to be residents for a specific period to become eligible for a marriage license. Missouri does not. Non-residents are free to get married in the state.

Where there are previous marriages, the applicant is required to record the date when their last marriage ended. They must also wait for a period not less than 30 days before applying for another marriage license.

Applicants face no other tests, including blood tests. Missouri marriage laws are quite clear about what they permit and what they don’t. They permit proxy marriages, which most other states do not, but have no allowance for same-sex and cousin marriages.

While Missouri does not permit common-law marriages, the law in the state recognizes the validity of common-law marriages entered into in the state before 1921.  However, it does recognize common-law marriages contracted in other states which permit them.

As for eligibility in terms of age, Missouri marriage laws are fairly specific without too many exceptions permitted. If a person is under 18 years of age, he or she is not eligible for a marriage license except with the express consent of the custodial parent or a legal guardian. If a person is less than 15 years of age, he or she is not eligible for a marriage license without the approval of parents and a judge in the county where the marriage is to take place.

What the law says is that the judge should use discretion in granting this type of approval. He should be certain that "good cause" has been shown, and that the conditions are unusual enough to make the marriage "advisable”.

Persons lacking the mental capacity to consent to marriage are not eligible to marry except with court approval. Marriage license fees are $50, payable in cash, plus there is a $1 fee for parental consent for each of the parents.

Some people tend to forget that the marriage license is not a proof of marriage. The ceremony has to formalize the marriage.

Marriage ceremonies may be performed by any clergyman, active or retired, who is a US citizen in good standing with any church or synagogue in the state. Marrying officials, including Circuit Court and Associate Circuit Court judges must record every marriage they conduct.

The officials concerned must give the wedded couples their marriage certificates. They must also complete the marriage license and return it to the Recorder of Deeds within 90 days of the marriage license being issued.