To marry in Ohio, both people must be at least 18 (or 17 with juvenile court approval), get a marriage license from a county probate court, and have the ceremony performed by an authorized officiant within 60 days. Ohio marriage laws impose no waiting period between the license and the ceremony, do not require either party to be an Ohio resident, and treat marriage as the trigger for a set of legal rights covering inheritance, taxes, medical decisions, and more. The details below cover eligibility, the license process, who can officiate, prenuptial agreements, common law marriage, and what changes legally once you are married.
Who Can Legally Marry
Ohio’s baseline rule under Revised Code Section 3101.01 is that you must be 18 or older, not currently married to anyone else, and not more closely related to your partner than second cousins. First cousins cannot marry in Ohio. Second cousins and more distant relatives can, and the restriction applies whether the relationship is by blood or adoption, so adopted siblings are also barred from marrying each other.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3101.01 – Persons Who May Be Joined in Marriage
Age 17 With Court Approval
A 17-year-old can marry in Ohio only with judicial consent from a juvenile court. If just one member of the couple is 17, the other cannot be more than four years older.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 3101.02 – Marriage of Persons Age Seventeen The court weighs whether the minor is entering the marriage voluntarily and whether the minor has received marriage counseling the court considers satisfactory.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 3101.05 – Application for Marriage License Nobody under 17 can marry in Ohio under any circumstances.
Same-Sex Couples
Ohio’s statute still contains “one man and one woman” language, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which originated in Ohio, requires every state to license marriages between two people of the same sex.4Justia. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) Probate courts across Ohio issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on the same terms as everyone else.
Bigamy
You cannot marry while you are still legally married to someone else. Doing so is bigamy, a first-degree misdemeanor in Ohio carrying up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $1,000.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 2919.01 – Bigamy A bigamous marriage is void from the start. Ohio does recognize one affirmative defense: if your spouse was continuously absent for five years and you had no reason to believe they were alive.
Getting a Marriage License
Both people must appear in person at the probate court in the county where either one lives. If neither person lives in Ohio, apply in the county where the ceremony will take place, and the ceremony has to happen in that same county.6Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3101.05 – Application for Marriage License Residents can use their license anywhere in Ohio.
The application asks for your name, age, residence, birthplace, occupation, and your parents’ names. A Social Security number is required unless you do not have one, in which case the court uses an alternative reference number. If either applicant was previously married, the application must include the prior spouse’s name, the names of any minor children, and the jurisdiction and case number of the divorce. Bring a certified divorce decree or death certificate to prove the earlier marriage ended legally.
Fees vary by county. Franklin County charges $65, Greene County charges $50, and Montgomery County charges $75, so budget somewhere in that range. Some courts take only cash; others accept cards, sometimes with a convenience fee. Once issued, the license is good for 60 days.7Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3101.07 – Expiration Date of License If it expires before the wedding, you start the application (and the fee) over. Ohio imposes no waiting period, so you can marry the same day the license is issued.
Who Can Perform the Ceremony
Ohio law authorizes several categories of officiant:
- Actively serving county court judges, municipal court judges, and probate judges
- Any mayor of an Ohio municipal corporation
- Ordained or licensed ministers of a religious society or congregation, provided the minister holds a license from the Ohio Secretary of State
- A religious society itself, under its own rules (which accommodates traditions like Quaker meetings where no single officiant presides)
- The Superintendent of the Ohio State School for the Deaf
Ministers must register with the Secretary of State’s office before performing any ceremony. The application requires proof of ordination credentials and costs $10.8Ohio Secretary of State. Minister Licenses An unregistered minister cannot legally officiate a marriage in Ohio, so a friend planning to be ordained online for your wedding should confirm the Secretary of State will issue the license well before the date.9Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 3101.08 – Who May Solemnize Marriages
After the ceremony the officiant completes and signs the marriage certificate and returns it to the probate court within 30 days. Follow up. A missing filing creates real problems when you need proof of marriage for name changes, insurance enrollment, tax filing, or spousal benefits.
Common Law Marriage in Ohio
Ohio no longer permits new common law marriages. The state cut them off on October 10, 1991. If you began living with your partner after that date, you cannot form a common law marriage in Ohio no matter how long you have been together or how publicly you hold yourselves out as a married couple.10Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3105.12 – Proof of Marriage
Common law marriages validly established in Ohio before October 10, 1991 remain recognized, and Ohio will generally recognize a common law marriage validly created in another state that still permits them. A valid common law marriage carries the same legal weight as a ceremonial one and requires a formal divorce to dissolve.
Prenuptial Agreements
Ohio courts enforce prenuptial agreements, but scrutinize them more closely than ordinary contracts. Under the Ohio Supreme Court’s framework, a prenup must satisfy three conditions:11Supreme Court of Ohio. Prenuptial Agreements – Bench Card
- Both parties signed voluntarily, without fraud, duress, or coercion. Presenting a heavily revised agreement days before the wedding creates a presumption of overreaching.
- Both parties had full knowledge of the other’s property, debts, and income. If one spouse ends up with substantially less than normal property division would give them, the burden shifts to the other spouse to prove adequate disclosure occurred.
- The terms do not create a financial incentive to divorce.
The financially disadvantaged party must also have had a meaningful opportunity to consult an independent attorney. Even a valid prenup can be revisited later: Ohio courts may modify spousal support provisions that have become unconscionable by the time of divorce. In practice, both parties should have their own lawyers, sign well in advance of the wedding, and be transparent about finances.
Legal Rights Marriage Creates
Inheritance
If your spouse dies without a will, Ohio’s intestate succession statute decides what you receive. When all of the deceased spouse’s children are also your children, you inherit the entire estate. When the deceased had children from another relationship, your share drops: you take the first $20,000 (with one such child) or $60,000 (when you are the parent of at least one child in a mixed situation with multiple children), plus a fraction of the remaining balance.12Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 2105.06 – Statute of Descent and Distribution With no children or descendants at all, you inherit everything. These defaults apply only when there is no will, which is why writing one matters even for young couples.
Medical Decisions
Marriage gives you recognized standing to visit your spouse in the hospital and be involved in medical decisions, and federal regulations prohibit hospitals from restricting visitation based on the nature of the relationship.13U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. FAQs on Patient Visitation at Certain Federally Funded Entities and Facilities A marriage certificate on its own does not automatically make you your spouse’s medical decision-maker if they become incapacitated. That authority comes from a healthcare power of attorney, which every married couple should have in place.
Federal Taxes and Social Security
Married couples can file federal income taxes jointly, which often lowers the overall tax bill when spouses have significantly different incomes but can push two high, similar incomes into a higher bracket faster than filing separately would. Run the numbers both ways or work with a tax professional.
Marriage also unlocks Social Security spousal benefits. A spouse who earned less (or did not work) can claim up to 50% of the higher-earning spouse’s primary insurance amount at full retirement age; claiming early at 62 reduces the benefit to as little as 32.5% of the worker’s amount.14Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
Immigration
A U.S. citizen who marries a foreign national can sponsor their spouse for a green card as an “immediate relative,” a category with no annual visa cap. The process requires filing Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and, if the spouse is already in the United States, Form I-485 (Application to Adjust Status), plus an Affidavit of Support showing the ability to support the spouse financially.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen A marriage entered solely to obtain immigration benefits is treated as fraud and can support both annulment and federal criminal charges.
Annulment Versus Divorce
An annulment treats a marriage as though it never legally existed, which is different from divorce, where a valid marriage is ended going forward. Ohio courts grant annulments only for reasons that existed at the time of the marriage:
- Fraud that induced consent, such as lying about identity or concealing an inability to have children. The action must be filed within two years of discovering the fraud.
- Duress or coercion that forced one party into the marriage.
- Underage marriage where the underage spouse did not continue living with the other after reaching the legal age, filed within two years of reaching that age.
- Non-consummation, filed within two years of the marriage date.
- Mental incapacity or intoxication that prevented one party from understanding the ceremony.
Because an annulment voids the marriage retroactively, the property division and spousal support rules that govern divorce generally do not apply. Children born during an annulled marriage remain legally recognized, and child support obligations are unaffected.
Changing Your Name
Either spouse can change their last name through the marriage license itself. Indicate the new name (spouse’s surname, hyphenated, or combined) on the application. The change takes legal effect once the marriage certificate is signed and filed with the probate court, with no separate court petition needed. From there, update your Social Security record first, then your Ohio driver’s license, then your passport and other accounts.
If you later divorce, Ohio Revised Code Section 3105.16 lets the court granting the divorce restore any name you had before the marriage, as long as you request it during the proceedings.16Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 3105.16 – Restoration of Former Name Miss that window and you would have to go through a standalone name-change proceeding later.