A good place to begin is with licensing. You must
obtain a Florida Marriage License to marry
legally in Florida. The County Clerks issue marriage
licenses. The application for a license and explanation
of the process is available at each County website. Click
Here for the county
you wish. Hillsborough
County Forms Pinellas
County Information
If you are
BOTH from out of state or out of country, you may
want to look into Florida
Marriage License by Mail and
procure your license beforehand. Also, most County
Clerks of Courts provide some type of by mail licensing
but do not mention it on their websites. You will
have to send an email from their website or call.
A
couple wishing to be married must be prepared to
provide their Social Security numbers or any other
available identifications numbers, such as driver
license numbers or other photo IDs (passport, military
ID) to the Clerk’s office to apply for a marriage
license.
What
if I have been married before?
If either applicant has been previously married, the
exact date of divorce, death or annulment must be
presented as well as the state and county where the
divorce took place.
What
are the procedures for underage marriages?
Applicants must be18 years old to apply for a marriage
license. Underage applicants must have parental
consent from both parents unless the court has given
one parent sole custody. The order would need
to be presented at the time of application. Applicants
under the age of 16 must have court approval.
New
Marriage Law as of January 1999
Any couple, if one or both parties are a Florida resident,
must take a four hour premarital preparation course
or wait three days before the marriage license goes
into effect. To receive a waiver of the new three-day
waiting period, a premarital preparation course must
be completed within one year prior to obtaining a
marriage license and a valid certificate of completion
must be presented to the Clerk's office. Taking the
premarital preparation course also lowers the application
fee.
If
all of the course requirements are met on the day
of application, the marriage license will be issued
and will also be effective the same day. If the
course requirements are not met on the date of application,
the marriage license will be issued but will not
be effective until three days from the issue date.
The expiration date will be 60 days from the issued
date and will appear on the license.
Recording
of License
After the court issues the marriage license, the license
is valid for 60 days. The marriage ceremony must be
held within that 60 day timeframe for the license
to be valid. After the ceremony is preformed the marriage
license must be sent or brought to the court, usually
that is done by the person who preformed the ceremony. It
will then be recorded in the Official Records and
an official copy sent to the new couple.
License
Fee
The fee for a marriage license is $93.50. There
is an exception if both parties are Florida residents
and have provided proof of a premarital class with
a certified provider. The fee is reduced to
$61.
