Maryland marriage laws require couples to obtain a license from the circuit court clerk, meet the state’s age rules, wait roughly 48 hours after the license is issued, and have the ceremony performed by an authorized officiant within six months. Get any one of those wrong and the marriage may be void or unrecognized. The rules below cover who can marry, how the license works, who can officiate, and what happens with marriages from other places, annulments, and divorce.
Who Can Legally Marry in Maryland
Anyone 18 or older can marry without additional approval. A 17-year-old can marry only under strict conditions: consent from every living parent, guardian, or legal custodian (or a physician’s certificate confirming the woman to be married is pregnant or has given birth), plus a certified court order authorizing the marriage. That court order cannot be submitted to the clerk until at least 15 days after the court issued it. Both pieces are required, not one or the other. No one under 17 may marry in Maryland under any circumstances.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-301 – Marriage of Individual 17 Years Old
Both parties must also have the mental capacity to understand what marriage is. A marriage entered without that capacity is voidable and can be annulled.
Prohibited Family Relationships
Maryland bars marriages between certain relatives, and any marriage that violates these rules is void from the moment it occurs, whether or not the parties knew.
Marrying a grandparent, parent, child, sibling, or grandchild is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,500. A second tier covers a grandparent’s spouse, a spouse’s grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a stepparent, a parent-in-law, a stepchild, a child-in-law, a grandchild-in-law, a spouse’s grandchild, or a niece or nephew. Violating those prohibitions is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-202 – Marriages Within Certain Degrees of Relationship Void and Penalties First-cousin marriages are not on either list.
Bigamy
Going through a marriage ceremony while still legally married to someone else is a felony carrying up to nine years in prison.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 10-502 – Bigamy The second marriage is void from the start.
Getting a Marriage License
Couples apply at the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the ceremony will be held. Only one party needs to appear in person and give the required information under oath: each party’s full legal name, place of residence, date of birth, marital status, and whether the parties are related by blood or marriage.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-402 If neither party lives in that county, one party can submit a sworn affidavit instead of appearing.
Each applicant must provide a Social Security number (if they have one) and a government-issued birth certificate or other official document proving age.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-402 Social Security numbers stay confidential and do not appear on any public document. Applicants without a Social Security number, including some foreign nationals, can still apply.
License fees vary slightly by county but are generally around $55. Confirm the exact amount and accepted payment methods with the clerk’s office before you go, since some offices restrict payment to cash or specific cards.
The 48-Hour Waiting Period
A Maryland marriage license does not take effect the moment you pay for it. It becomes valid at 6:00 a.m. on the second calendar day after issuance, which produces roughly a 48-hour wait. A circuit court judge in the county where the application was filed can waive the wait for good cause shown, but only if at least one party is a Maryland resident or a member of the U.S. armed forces. Waivers most often go to military deployment schedules or pregnancy.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-405 – Issuance of License
Once effective, the license is valid for six months. If the ceremony does not happen inside that window, the couple has to reapply.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-406 – Performance of Ceremony
Who Can Perform the Ceremony
Maryland law is specific about officiants. Authorized officiants are any official of a religious order or body authorized by that organization’s rules to perform marriages, any clerk or deputy clerk of a circuit court, and any judge, including Maryland state judges, federal judges, and judges from other states who are active or retired but eligible for recall.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-406 – Performance of Ceremony A ceremony performed by anyone outside that list produces a void marriage.
After the ceremony, the officiant fills out the marriage certificate and returns it to the clerk of the circuit court for recording. Confirm with your officiant that they have actually sent it. An unfiled certificate can create problems later when you need proof of marriage for a name change, insurance enrollment, or a tax filing.
Common Law Marriage
You cannot create a common law marriage inside Maryland. Cohabitation, joint finances, and holding yourselves out as spouses do not add up to a legal marriage without a license and a ceremony. Maryland does, however, recognize a common law marriage that was validly created in another state that allows them. If you established one in Colorado or Texas, for example, before moving to Maryland, the state will treat you as married.
Marriages From Other States and Countries
Maryland follows the general rule that a marriage valid where it was performed is valid in Maryland. That includes same-sex marriages from any state. The main exception is a marriage that offends a strong Maryland public policy, such as a marriage between close relatives who fall within Maryland’s prohibited categories or a marriage involving someone under the state’s minimum age without the required approvals.
Foreign marriages follow the same principle. If the marriage was legal under that country’s laws, Maryland will generally treat it as valid. You do not need to re-register it here, though you may need a certified translation of the marriage certificate and possibly an apostille when using it for official purposes like Social Security updates or immigration filings.
Annulment
An annulment treats the marriage as though it never legally existed. Maryland recognizes two categories.
A marriage is automatically void if it involved bigamy or a prohibited family relationship under Family Law § 2-202. It has no legal standing from the start, though either party can ask a court for an order formally declaring it void.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 2-202 – Marriages Within Certain Degrees of Relationship Void and Penalties
A marriage is voidable, meaning it stays valid unless a court says otherwise, if consent was obtained through fraud, duress, undue influence, or abduction, or if either party lacked the mental capacity to understand the contract at the ceremony. Only the victimized party can challenge a voidable marriage. If the couple keeps living together after the problem disappears (for instance, after a coerced spouse is no longer under duress), the right to annulment may be lost.
Divorce Under Current Maryland Law
Maryland overhauled its divorce law effective October 1, 2023, eliminating all traditional fault-based grounds. Adultery, desertion, cruelty, and the other fault grounds are gone. A court can grant an absolute divorce on three grounds:7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 7-103 – Absolute Divorce
- Six-month separation. The parties have lived separate and apart for at least six months without interruption before filing. Couples can meet this even while living under one roof, as long as they have been leading separate lives.
- Irreconcilable differences. One spouse states reasons for the permanent breakdown of the marriage. No separation period is required.
- Mutual consent. Both parties sign a written settlement agreement resolving property, alimony, and any child custody and support issues, and submit it to the court.
The court still divides marital property, may award alimony, and sets custody where children are involved. The change is that no one has to prove wrongdoing to end the marriage.
Prenuptial Agreements
Maryland recognizes prenuptial agreements under Family Law §§ 3-102 and 3-103. A prenup lets couples decide in advance how property, debts, and spousal support will be handled if the marriage ends. To hold up in court, both parties should enter it voluntarily, disclose their finances fully, and ideally have independent counsel review the terms. Agreements signed under duress or based on hidden assets are vulnerable to being set aside. Postnuptial agreements are also available and face similar requirements, though courts sometimes scrutinize them more closely because spouses owe each other a fiduciary duty.
After the Wedding: Name Change and Taxes
If you plan to take a spouse’s last name or hyphenate, start with the Social Security Administration. File Form SS-5 with your original or certified marriage certificate and a valid photo ID. The IRS matches the name on your tax return to your Social Security record, so filing taxes before updating Social Security can delay a refund.8Internal Revenue Service. Changed Your Name After Marriage or Divorce Once the new Social Security card arrives, update your driver’s license at the MVA, then your passport. If your passport was issued less than a year ago and your name change also occurred within that year, you can update it at no cost beyond the optional $60 expedited processing fee.9U.S. Department of State. Name Change for U.S. Passport or Correct a Printing or Data Error Then work through your bank accounts, employer payroll, insurance, and any professional licenses.
Marriage also changes your federal tax picture. Filing jointly often lowers the overall bill, but two high earners can sometimes pay more than they would as single filers, so run the numbers both ways before submitting.