Eloping in Florida is straightforward: there’s no residency requirement, no blood test, and non-residents skip the state’s three-day waiting period, which means an out-of-state couple can walk into any Clerk of the Circuit Court office, get a marriage license, and hold a legal ceremony the same day. The rules below are the ones that actually decide whether your plan works.
Who Can Marry
Both of you must be at least 18. A 17-year-old can marry only with notarized written consent from a parent or guardian, and only if the older party is no more than two years older.1Justia Law. Florida Code 741.04 – Issuance of Marriage License No one under 17 can marry at all.
Neither of you can already be married to someone else. Marrying while you have a living spouse is bigamy, a third-degree felony.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 826.01 – Bigamy Punishment Close blood relatives can’t marry each other either: Florida prohibits marriages between siblings, between aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, and between anyone in a direct line of descent.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 741.21 – Incestuous Marriages Prohibited
Residency and citizenship don’t matter. You can fly in from another state or another country and marry here without establishing any Florida connection first.
Getting the Marriage License
Both of you must appear together, in person, at any Clerk of the Circuit Court office in Florida. The license you receive is valid statewide, so you can apply in one county and marry in another.
Bring a valid government-issued photo ID each: a driver’s license from any state, a U.S. passport, a state ID, or a military ID. Each applicant provides a Social Security number; the physical card isn’t required in most counties, you just need to know the number. Non-citizens without a Social Security number can give an alien registration number, and the clerk cannot refuse a license to a non-citizen who has none of these.1Justia Law. Florida Code 741.04 – Issuance of Marriage License If either of you has been married before, you need to know the exact date that marriage ended, whether by divorce, annulment, or death. You don’t need to bring the decree or death certificate itself.
Fees
The license fee is $86 in most counties. That total is built from a base application fee plus a $25 surcharge for the state’s Domestic Violence Trust Fund and a $25 fee for the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 741.01 – County Court Judge or Clerk of the Circuit Court to Issue Marriage License Fee Couples who complete a premarital preparation course within one year before applying get a $25 reduction, bringing the fee to $61.
The Three-Day Waiting Period
Florida residents have to wait three days after applying before the license takes effect. Non-residents are automatically exempt. Florida residents can also eliminate the wait by completing a premarital preparation course, and a county court judge can waive it in hardship cases.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 741.04 – Issuance of Marriage License For out-of-state couples, this is the single biggest reason Florida works so well for a same-day elopement.
How Long the License Lasts
Once issued, the license is valid for 60 days. If the ceremony doesn’t happen in that window, the license expires and you have to apply and pay again.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 741.041 – Marriage License Application Valid for 60 Days The expiration date is printed on the license itself.
The Ceremony
Your ceremony can happen anywhere in Florida: a beach, a hotel room, a courthouse lobby, a backyard. Florida law doesn’t dictate the content of the ceremony or the vows. The one legal requirement is that someone authorized by statute performs it.
Authorized officiants include:
- Ordained ministers, elders, or other ordained members of any church or denomination in good standing
- State judges, including retired judges, and federal judges serving in courts with Florida jurisdiction
- Clerks of the circuit court and their appointed deputy clerks
- Any Florida notary public
The notary option is the one most elopers use. Florida notaries are plentiful and generally charge less than a professional wedding officiant. Members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) can marry according to their own rites without a separate officiant, and that marriage is fully valid.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 741.07 – Persons Authorized to Solemnize Matrimony
One practical check: Florida’s marriage statutes don’t explicitly require witnesses, but many county license forms include spaces for witness signatures. If your ceremony is just the two of you and the officiant, ask the issuing clerk whether their form needs witnesses so you aren’t caught short on the day.
After the Ceremony
Your officiant signs the completed license and returns it to the clerk’s office that issued it, within 10 days.8Justia Law. Florida Code 741.08 – Marriage Not to Be Solemnized Without a License That’s the officiant’s legal responsibility, not yours, but worth confirming. If the license never gets returned, the marriage won’t appear in the public record, and that becomes a problem the first time you need proof of it.
Once recorded, the marriage is part of the official public record and you can order certified copies of the marriage certificate from that clerk’s office. Fees vary by county but are generally under $10 per copy. Order several at once. You’ll need them for name changes, insurance, taxes, and the other paperwork that follows.
Quick Note on What Comes Next
A Florida marriage certificate is the document you’ll use to change your last name, but the change isn’t automatic. Update Social Security first, because other agencies verify your new name against that record.9Social Security Administration. Change Name With Social Security Then move to your driver’s license, passport, bank accounts, employer, and any professional licenses.
Marriage also changes your federal filing status for the entire tax year in which you marry; if you elope on any day in 2026, the IRS treats you as married for all of 2026. Florida has no state income tax, so there’s no state-level consequence, but the federal shift is worth a conversation with a tax professional if either of you has significant self-employment income, investment income, or income-driven student loan payments. Lastly, check the beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, because those forms, not your will, control who inherits those assets.