How to Get a Tazewell County Marriage License: Cost and Steps

A Tazewell County marriage license costs $90, and both partners must apply together in person at the County Clerk’s office in Pekin. The license takes effect the day after it is issued and stays valid for 60 days. You’ll need a government-issued photo ID, and if either of you was previously married, the date and place that marriage ended.

Who Can Apply

Illinois marriage rules come from the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5). Applicants 18 and older can apply without restriction.¹ Applicants who are 16 or 17 need written consent from both parents or a legal guardian. If one parent can’t be located after a real effort to find them, the other parent may consent alone by signing an affidavit that explains the situation. A judge can also grant approval in place of parental consent.

Both applicants must be legally single. Any prior marriage or civil union has to have been formally dissolved before a new license can be issued.²

Illinois prohibits marriages between parents and children, siblings (including half-siblings and adoptive siblings), aunts or uncles and their nieces or nephews, and first cousins. First cousins may marry only if both are at least 50 years old, or if one provides a physician’s certificate stating they are permanently sterile.³

One boundary worth knowing: Illinois does not recognize common-law marriages formed inside the state. Any common-law marriage created in Illinois after June 30, 1905 is invalid, and simply living together doesn’t make you married here.⁴ You need a license.

What to Bring

Applicants 18 and older need a valid driver’s license or state ID card. The Clerk’s office also accepts U.S. passports, military ID cards, and naturalization certificates.⁵ Applicants under 18 must bring a birth certificate to prove their age.⁶

If either applicant was previously married, bring the date the prior marriage ended, the county and state where the divorce was finalized (or the date and place of a former spouse’s death), and the name of the court that issued the decree.² Missing this information is the most common reason couples end up making a second trip.

Cost and Payment

The license fee is $90, and it includes one certified copy of your marriage certificate, mailed to you after the signed license is returned following the ceremony.⁶ The office takes cash, personal checks, and debit or credit cards. Card payments carry an added processing fee.⁷ Make checks and money orders payable to Tazewell County Clerk.

Where and How to Apply

The County Clerk’s office is in the McKenzie Building at 11 S. 4th Street, Suite 203, Pekin, Illinois, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.⁶ Both applicants have to appear together at the counter.

The Clerk’s office offers an online pre-application that lets you enter your information ahead of time.⁸ Filling it out in advance can shorten the in-person visit, but it does not replace it. At the counter, a deputy clerk verifies your identification, enters your information into the state system, and prepares the application for both of you to sign. The clerk then issues the physical license along with instructions for the ceremony and the return process.

Waiting Period and How Long the License Lasts

Illinois has a one-day waiting period. The license becomes effective the day after it is issued, so you can’t hold the ceremony on the same day you pick it up. A license issued Thursday is valid starting Friday.⁹ A court order can waive the waiting period if circumstances require it.

Once effective, the license is good for 60 days. If the ceremony doesn’t happen within that window, the license expires and you have to apply and pay again.⁹

The license is issued for use in Tazewell County, and most clerks recommend holding the ceremony there. Illinois law does provide, however, that a marriage is not invalidated if it is inadvertently solemnized in a different Illinois county.⁹ Plan for a Tazewell County ceremony, but a last-minute venue change within Illinois won’t void the marriage.

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

Illinois allows the following people to officiate:

Active judges of any court of record, retired judges in good standing, and judges of the Court of Claims.
The sitting mayor or president of any Illinois city, village, or incorporated town.
Any ordained or otherwise designated person in good standing with their religious denomination, Indian Nation, Tribe, or Native Group.

Judges and mayors cannot charge a fee for performing the ceremony.¹⁰ Tazewell County Circuit Court judges do perform ceremonies at the courthouse in Pekin; contact the courthouse to arrange scheduling. Religious officiants do not have to register with the county or the state. Notaries public are not authorized to officiate marriages in Illinois. Witnesses are not required, though you can have them if you’d like.

h2>Returning the Signed Certificate

After the ceremony, the officiant (or, if no single person officiated, both spouses) must complete the marriage certificate and return it to the Tazewell County Clerk’s office within 10 days.¹⁰ Until the Clerk receives the completed certificate, your marriage isn’t on record with the state, no certified copies can be issued, and anything that depends on proof of marriage (name changes, insurance updates, benefit claims) will stall.

Confirm before the wedding who is returning the paperwork. Couples often assume the officiant handles it and discover weeks later that nothing was filed.

Getting Certified Copies

Your $90 fee includes one certified copy, which the Clerk’s office mails to you once the completed certificate comes back from the officiant.⁶ Additional copies can be ordered in person at the Clerk’s office or online through the county’s e-certified copy portal.⁸ For current pricing on extra copies, call the Vitals department at 309-477-2264.

The Illinois Department of Public Health does not keep marriage records. Certified copies come only from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued.¹¹

Changing Your Name After the Wedding

A marriage certificate is legal proof of a name change, but nothing updates automatically. Take a certified copy to each agency in turn:

Start with the Social Security Administration. Visit a local SSA office or mail in a name-change request with your certified marriage certificate, and SSA will issue a new card. Do this first because other agencies verify identity against SSA records.
Update your Illinois driver’s license next. Illinois requires you to notify the Secretary of State of a name change within 10 days and apply for a corrected license within 30 days. You have to visit a Driver Services facility in person with your current license and certified marriage certificate. A corrected license costs about $5.
Handle banks, employers, insurance companies, and the passport office after your Social Security card and driver’s license reflect the new name, since most of them will ask to see one or both.

Illinois sets no legal deadline for changing your name after marriage. Some people wait months or years, and some never change it at all. The longer you wait, the more paperwork accumulates under your old name.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5 – Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act
2
FindLaw. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/202 – Marriage License and Marriage Certificate
3
FindLaw. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/212 – Prohibited Marriages
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/214 – Common Law Marriages
5
Tazewell County. Tazewell County Clerk – Application for Search – Marriage Record
6
Tazewell County Clerk / Recorder. Rules to Obtain a Marriage License in Tazewell County
7
Tazewell County. Vital Records General Information
8
Tazewell County. County Clerk and Recorder
9
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/207 – Effective Date of License
10
Justia Law. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5 Part II – Marriage
11
Illinois Department of Public Health. Marriage Records