A Maryland marriage certificate is the state’s official record that your wedding took place, and getting one is a three-step sequence: apply for a marriage license at the Circuit Court clerk’s office in the county where the ceremony will be held, hold the ceremony after the waiting period, and then request certified copies once the completed certificate has been filed. The license and the certificate are two different documents. The license authorizes the wedding; the certificate proves it happened.
Step 1: Apply for the Marriage License
You apply through the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the ceremony will take place. Residency in that county, or anywhere in Maryland, is not required.1Maryland Courts. Maryland Courts – Marriage Only one of the two parties needs to appear at the clerk’s counter, but the application asks for both parties’ information under oath: full legal name, residence, age, marital status, and whether the two are related by blood or marriage. If either party was previously married, you must supply the date and place of each divorce, annulment, or former spouse’s death.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-402 – Application for License
Bring a Social Security number for each party (if you have one), plus an official government-issued birth certificate or another government document showing each party’s age. The Social Security numbers are stored electronically and are not part of the public record.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-402 – Application for License
The statutory license fee is $10, but counties add processing charges on top.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-404 – Fees for Licenses In practice, expect to pay somewhere between about $35 and $55. Montgomery County charges $55.4Montgomery County, Maryland. How Do I Get a Marriage License? Call the ceremony county’s clerk for the exact amount before you go.
If Neither of You Lives in the Ceremony County
Maryland allows a non-resident affidavit in place of an in-person application. One party fills out the affidavit, swears to it before a clerk or comparable official where they live, and mails it to the issuing county’s clerk.1Maryland Courts. Maryland Courts – Marriage The affidavit collects the same information as the standard application.
Step 2: Wait Out the Waiting Period, Then Hold the Ceremony
Once issued, a Maryland marriage license does not take effect immediately. It becomes valid at 6:00 a.m. on the second calendar day after issuance. Apply on a Monday, and the earliest you can marry is Wednesday morning. A circuit court judge can waive the waiting period for good cause, but only if at least one party is a Maryland resident or a member of the U.S. armed forces.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-405 – Issuance of License
After it takes effect, the license stays valid for six months.1Maryland Courts. Maryland Courts – Marriage Miss that window and the license expires. You’ll have to reapply, pay the fee again, and wait through a new waiting period.
Who Is Allowed to Perform the Ceremony
Maryland limits officiants to a specific list:
- Any official of a religious order or body authorized by that organization’s rules and customs to perform marriages
- Any clerk of a circuit court
- A deputy clerk designated by the county administrative judge
- Any Maryland state court judge, federal district or appellate judge, or U.S. Tax Court judge, active or retired and eligible for recall
Self-solemnization is not permitted, and neither are notaries public.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-406 – Performance of Ceremony A Society of Friends (Quaker) ceremony is handled differently: the couple and two overseers sign the certificate rather than an officiant.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-409 – Signing and Disposition of Marriage Certificates Confirm your officiant’s credentials well before the wedding day.
Step 3: Confirm the Certificate Gets Filed
Your officiant is legally required to complete two marriage certificates at the ceremony. You keep one. The other must be returned to the issuing circuit court clerk within five days. If the certificate hasn’t come in after six months, the clerk is required to investigate whether the ceremony actually occurred.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-409 – Signing and Disposition of Marriage Certificates
Don’t assume this happens on its own. Call the clerk’s office a few weeks after your wedding to verify the certificate has been received and filed. Everything downstream, including your certified copies, depends on it.
Step 4: Order Certified Copies
The keepsake copy your officiant hands you at the ceremony is not what banks, insurers, the Social Security Administration, or the State Department want to see. For legal purposes, you need officially certified copies with a raised seal or on security paper. Where you order them depends on when you were married.
Marriages On or After January 1, 2007
Certified copies come from the Maryland Department of Health’s Division of Vital Records in Baltimore. You can request copies by mail with the application and a check or money order. The fee is $25 per copy.8Maryland Department of Health. Vital Statistics Administration – Request Marriage Certificates
Marriages Before January 1, 2007
For older marriages, go to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county that issued the license. The clerk’s fee is $5.50 per certified copy. In-person requests are often handled the same day; mail requests depend on the office’s backlog.8Maryland Department of Health. Vital Statistics Administration – Request Marriage Certificates
What to Include in Your Request
Whether you go through the state or a county clerk, provide the full names of both spouses at the time of the marriage and the approximate date of the ceremony. Certified copies issued this way are accepted by federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the State Department for passport purposes.
Fixing an Error on Your Certificate
If you spot a misspelled name, a wrong birthdate, or an incorrect county on the record, contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court that issued the license. Procedures vary by county, and some corrections require filing a court petition with an associated fee. If a spouse legally changes their name after the marriage through a separate court order, both spouses can submit a written request to the issuing clerk for a new marriage record reflecting the updated name. The clerk needs satisfactory proof of the court-ordered name change before reissuing the record.9New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Family Law 2-504 – New Marriage Records; Change of Name
Who Can Marry in Maryland
Before you apply, confirm you both qualify. You must be at least 18 to marry without restrictions. A 17-year-old may marry only after two conditions are met: consent from every living parent, guardian, or legal custodian (or, if that consent isn’t available, a medical certificate confirming a pregnancy), and a certified court order authorizing the marriage, issued at least 15 days beforehand. No one under 17 can marry under any circumstances.10Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-301 – Marriage of Individual Under the Age of 17 Years
Marriages between close relatives are void from the start. You cannot marry a grandparent, parent, child, sibling, or grandchild, and the prohibition extends to step-relatives and in-laws, including a stepparent, a spouse’s parent or child, a parent’s sibling, or a sibling’s child.11Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-202 – Marriages Within Certain Degrees of Relationship
Marrying while you’re still legally married to another living person is a felony in Maryland.12New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Criminal Law 10-502 – Bigamy That’s why the application asks for the details of every prior marriage’s end. Have those dates and places ready before you approach the counter.