Blank Mississippi Marriage License Form: Fees, Validity, and Return

To get a Mississippi marriage license application, both of you go in person to any Circuit Clerk’s office in the state, fill out the sworn form the clerk provides, show proof of age, and pay the fee. There is no waiting period, no blood test, and the license is issued the same day.¹

Where To Apply

Any of Mississippi’s 82 county Circuit Clerk offices can take your application. State law lets you file with the circuit court clerk of any county, so residency in that county is not required and neither is holding the ceremony there.² Out-of-state couples can apply too.

Some offices, including Lafayette County and Stone County, post a blank worksheet online so you can preview the questions and gather information before you walk in.³ The official form is still completed and sworn to in person at the clerk’s counter.

What You Bring and What the Form Asks

Both applicants must appear together before the clerk, swear to the application under oath, and present proof of age that the clerk will copy for the file. A driver’s license or birth certificate is the typical choice, but the statute also accepts a baptismal record, military ID, military discharge papers, tribal identification card, life insurance policy, insurance certificate, or school records.²

Under Mississippi Code 93-1-5, the sworn application itself must include:

Full legal names, ages, and residential addresses of both applicants
Names and addresses of each applicant’s parents; for anyone under 21 with no living parents, the names and addresses of the guardian or next of kin
Signatures of witnesses
Any additional data the State Board of Health may require

Everything you swear to has to match your supporting documents, so check spellings and dates before you sign.² A given county may add its own questions (occupation, prior marriages) on top of the statutory list. Mississippi dropped the blood test requirement on July 1, 2012, so no medical paperwork is needed.¹

Age and Parental Consent

Mississippi treats 21 as the age of majority for marriage, which is higher than most states. If both of you are 21 or older, you apply on your own.

For males 17 to 20 and females 15 to 20, marriage is allowed only with parental or guardian consent, and the father, mother, guardian, or next of kin of each applicant must file sworn affidavits confirming the applicant’s age alongside the application. Below those ages (under 17 for males, under 15 for females), the marriage requires written authorization from a circuit, chancery, or county court judge in the county where either party lives; the judge must be satisfied that parents consent and that sufficient reasons exist. There is no absolute statutory minimum because the judicial waiver has no floor.²

Fee and Same-Day Issuance

The license fee is around $37 in most counties, with small variations by county. Payment methods vary too; some offices take cards, others only cash or money orders, so call before you go. Mississippi has no mandatory waiting period, so once the clerk processes your sworn application and payment you walk out with the license the same day and can marry immediately.⁴

How Long the License Is Good For

Mississippi marriage licenses do not expire. There’s no deadline to hold the ceremony after the clerk issues the license. The license only authorizes a marriage performed inside Mississippi, though; a ceremony in another state requires that state’s license.

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

Mississippi Code 93-1-17 limits officiants to three categories:

Any ordained minister in good standing with their church or society, and any rabbi or other spiritual leader authorized by their religious body to perform marriages
Judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit court, chancery court, or county court, who can officiate anywhere in the state
Justice court judges and members of county boards of supervisors, who can officiate only within their own counties

If you’re marrying in a county different from where a local-authority officiant serves, pick someone with statewide authority instead.⁵ Witnesses at the ceremony are not required; it can be just the two of you and your officiant.⁶

Return the Signed License Within Five Days

After the ceremony, the officiant signs the license to certify the marriage was performed according to law, and the completed license must be returned to the issuing Circuit Clerk’s office within five days of the wedding.⁴ Miss that step and the marriage may not be officially recorded, which can create downstream problems for insurance, property, and anything else that asks for proof of marriage.

Once the clerk records the returned license, you can order certified copies of your marriage certificate from the Mississippi State Department of Health for $17 each.⁷ Ordering two or three at once is sensible, since name changes, insurance updates, and tax filings each tend to want their own copy.

Marriages Mississippi Won’t Issue

Under Mississippi Code 93-1-1, marriages between close family members are void from the start. The prohibited relationships include parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, siblings, aunt or uncle and niece or nephew, stepparent and stepchild, and first cousins, applied equally regardless of gender.⁸ Mississippi also does not recognize common law marriage; no length of cohabitation substitutes for a license and a solemnized ceremony. That has been the rule since 1956.

1
Mississippi State Department of Health. Marriage Records
2
Justia. Mississippi Code 93-1-5 – Conditions Precedent to Issuance of License; Penalty for Noncompliance
3
Lafayette County. Get a Marriage License
4
Office of the Circuit Clerk. Marriage License
5
Justia. Mississippi Code 93-1-17 – By Whom Marriages May Be Solemnized
6
Lafayette County, MS Circuit Clerk. Things You Need to Know Before Applying for a Marriage License
7
Mississippi State Department of Health. Order Birth, Death or Marriage Records Online or by Phone
8
Justia. Mississippi Code 93-1-1 – Certain Marriages Prohibited