Louisiana Marriage Laws: Licenses, Waiting Period, and Ceremonies

Louisiana marriage laws require a license from any parish Clerk of Court, a 24-hour waiting period after the license is issued, and a ceremony performed in person by an authorized officiant with both parties present. There’s no residency requirement and no blood test, so out-of-state couples can marry here on the same terms as residents. The license costs roughly $25 to $35 depending on the parish and stays valid for 30 days.

Who Can Marry in Louisiana

Both parties must be at least 16. Civil Code Article 90.1 bars marriage entirely for anyone under 16, and a 16- or 17-year-old cannot marry an adult when the age gap is three years or more.¹ Minors who do qualify need parental or tutor consent plus judicial authorization, and the application itself must include the written consent, the court’s authorization, or both.²

Close relatives can’t marry. Article 90 prohibits marriage between ascendants and descendants and between relatives within the fourth degree, whether by blood or adoption. There’s one narrow exception: adopted relatives in the collateral line within the fourth degree who share no blood relation can marry with written judicial authorization.³

You also can’t already be married to someone else. Bigamy is a felony in Louisiana, and a second marriage entered while a prior one is still in effect can be declared absolutely null.⁴

Getting the Marriage License

Apply at the Clerk of Court’s office in any Louisiana parish, regardless of where you live or where the ceremony will happen. The application is sworn to and signed before a notary public, deputy clerk, or deputy registrar. Both of you don’t need to appear at the same time — each party can execute the application separately in front of a notary.⁵

What the Application Asks For

Each party’s full name, residence, race, age, and both parents’ names.⁵ Bring valid photo identification, such as a driver’s license or passport, along with a certified birth certificate to verify age and parentage.⁶

Applicants born in the United States must provide a Social Security number. If you were born outside the U.S. or its territories, you can present a valid passport from your country of birth or an unexpired visa with an attached I-94 form instead.⁶

No certified birth certificate? You can petition a district, parish, family, or juvenile court in the parish where you’re applying. After a hearing, if the court finds good cause, it can order the clerk to issue the license without the birth certificate, and the written waiver gets attached to the application.⁷

If You’ve Been Married Before

Bring your final divorce decree, or a death certificate if your former spouse died. Louisiana imposes no waiting period between a finalized divorce and a new license. Once the judge signs the divorce judgment, you’re free to remarry.

Fees

License fees run roughly $25 to $35, with additional per-page charges for attachments like affidavits, consent forms, or divorce judgments. Certified copies of the marriage certificate cost a few dollars each. Call the Clerk of Court in the parish where you plan to apply for the exact amount and to confirm accepted payment methods.

The 24-Hour Wait and 30-Day Window

Louisiana imposes a mandatory 24-hour waiting period after the license is issued before any officiant can perform the ceremony.⁸ Once those 24 hours pass, the license stays valid for 30 days. Miss that window and the license expires; you’ll have to apply and pay again.

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

Both parties must be physically present at the ceremony, and a qualified third person must perform it.⁹ Authorized officiants include judges, justices of the peace, priests, ministers, rabbis, clerks of the Religious Society of Friends, and clergy of any religious denomination.

Any officiant other than a judge or justice of the peace must register first by filing an affidavit with the Clerk of Court in the parish where they will primarily officiate, stating name, denomination, and address. The filing fee is $5.¹⁰ Out-of-state clergy complete the Louisiana Marriage Officiant Registration Affidavit, have it notarized in their home state, and mail it to the appropriate parish clerk.¹¹

After the ceremony, the officiant gives one copy of the marriage certificate to the couple and must file the other two copies within ten days.¹² That filing is what makes the marriage a matter of public record, so follow up if you’re not sure it happened.

Covenant Marriage as an Alternative

Louisiana is one of a few states that offers covenant marriage, a stricter legal commitment that makes divorce significantly harder to obtain. Couples declare their choice on the marriage license application itself.¹³

Both parties must first receive premarital counseling from clergy or a professional marriage counselor. The counseling covers the seriousness of the commitment, the lifetime intent, and the obligation to seek counseling if problems arise. Both then sign a Declaration of Intent that includes a written recitation of these commitments and an affidavit confirming the counseling took place.¹⁴

The difference shows up at divorce. In a standard Louisiana marriage, a couple can divorce after living separate and apart for 180 days, or a year if minor children are involved, with no fault required. A covenant divorce requires proof of specific grounds: adultery, a felony conviction resulting in a death sentence or hard labor, abandonment for at least a year, physical or sexual abuse of a spouse or child, or living apart for two full years without reconciliation. Shorter separation periods apply when a judgment of separation from bed and board has already been granted.¹⁵ Both spouses must also attempt counseling before a covenant divorce can proceed, unless the ground is abuse.

What Louisiana Doesn’t Recognize

Common Law Marriage

Louisiana does not recognize common law marriage. No length of cohabitation or degree of shared finances creates a legal marriage here. You have to go through the license and ceremony. If you formed a valid common law marriage in a state that recognizes it and later moved to Louisiana, recognition may turn on whether the marriage was valid under that state’s laws.

Proxy and Remote Marriages

Both parties must be physically present at the ceremony. Civil Code Article 94 lists marriage by procuration (proxy) as absolutely null, with no legal effect.¹⁶ Online or video-conference ceremonies, where the officiant or a party participates remotely, aren’t permitted either. Livestreaming for guests who can’t attend is fine, but the couple and officiant must all be in the same room.

Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex marriage is legal in Louisiana. Although the state constitution and several statutes still contain language defining marriage as between a man and a woman, those provisions have been unenforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, and Louisiana legislative reports have acknowledged them as unconstitutional.¹⁷ All parish clerks issue licenses to same-sex couples, and the marriages carry the same rights and obligations as any other.

Marriages From Other States

Louisiana generally recognizes marriages validly performed in other states or countries. If the marriage was legal where contracted, Louisiana will treat it as valid. The main exception covers marriages that violate a strong public policy of the state, which historically targeted polygamous marriages. The old prohibition on recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages is no longer enforceable.

Changing Your Name After Marriage

Marriage in Louisiana does not automatically change your legal name. If you want your spouse’s surname, you’ll need to update records with several agencies, and the order matters.

Start with the Social Security Administration. File an application along with your marriage certificate — the original or a certified copy, since SSA won’t accept photocopies or notarized copies. Your new card will carry the married name but the same number. Doing this first matters because your employer needs the updated name to report wages correctly, and mismatched records can delay tax filings and reduce future benefits.¹⁸

Once your updated Social Security card arrives, visit a Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles location in person to get a new driver’s license or ID.¹⁹ From there, update your passport, bank accounts, insurance policies, and any other records that carry your legal name.

When a Marriage Is Null or Voidable

Marriages that violate the age or relationship impediments, or that were performed without a ceremony, are absolutely null under Civil Code Article 94. They’re treated as though they never existed. A court declaration isn’t strictly required, but any interested person can bring an action to formally recognize the nullity.¹⁶

Other flawed marriages are only relatively null — valid until a court declares otherwise. A marriage entered into through fraud, duress, or coercion falls here. The deceived or pressured spouse can seek annulment, but must file within five years of discovering the fraud or being freed from the coercion.²⁰ If no one challenges it within that window, the marriage stands.

Bigamy carries its own criminal penalties. A conviction is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The statute recognizes defenses: your former spouse has been absent for five consecutive years without being known to be alive; a competent court already dissolved or annulled the prior marriage; or you had a reasonable and honest belief that your former spouse was dead or that a valid divorce had been granted.⁴

1
Justia. Louisiana Civil Code Article 90.1 – Impediment of Age
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 9:225
3
Justia. Louisiana Civil Code Article 90 – Impediments of Relationship
4
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:76 – Bigamy
5
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:224 – Application; Information Required
6
Louisiana Department of Health. Requirements for Obtaining a Marriage License
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 74.3.1 – Marriage of Persons; Waiver of Certain Information
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 9:241 – Premature Ceremony Prohibited
9
Justia. Louisiana Civil Code Article 91 – Marriage Ceremony Required
10
Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court. Clergy
11
Louisiana Department of Health. Louisiana Marriage Officiant Registration Affidavit
12
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:253 – Disposition and Recordation
13
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:272 – Covenant Marriage; Intent; Conditions to Create
14
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 9:273 – Covenant Marriage; Contents of Declaration of Intent
15
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:307 – Divorce or Separation From Bed and Board in a Covenant Marriage
16
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 94 – Absolutely Null Marriage
17
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3520 – Marriage
18
Social Security Administration. Learn What Documents You Will Need to Get a Social Security Card
19
Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles. Driver’s License and Identification Card Renewals Frequently Asked Questions
20
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 2032 – Action for Annulment