Texas Marriage License Requirements

Weddings can be fun and sometimes a little stressful to plan. One of the most important parts of this whole, often crazy adventure, is the actual document that you file in order to call your soon to be spouse legally yours. The marriage license. Now let's assume for the purposes of this article that you want to make it official. In Texas, a commonlaw marriage is an actual legal thing and has it's own special set of rules and document that is filed with the county. Today, we are talking about the other kind of marriage-the signed sealed and delivered-all tied up together with a pretty piece of paper type of marriage.

Let's get into the basics.

You don't have to live in Texas to get married here, but you do have to obtain a license here.

You may obtain your marriage license in any county in Texas at the County Clerk's office. Here in Galveston, that's Court of the County of Galveston, Marriage License Department, located at 600 59th Street, Suite 2001. The office is open Monday through Friday 8am-5pm. You may reach the office by phone at (409)766-2200. A blood test is not required to obtain a marriage license but there is a 72 hour wait period.

If you are traveling here from another state,  we suggest you decide where you will enter the state and when. If you live in a neighboring state, choose the county in Texas that is the closest to your entry point. For example, a lot of our couples are coming down from Oklahoma. They choose to take a day trip and cross the state line into Denton County to get their license. Coming from Louisiana, Orange county is the bordering Texas county if you enter on IH10.

Both of you will have to appear in person in most cases. You will need to present proper ID and fill out some paperwork where you will attest to your identity, age, current marital status and answer a question about delinquent child support.

***Texas has some exemptions for personal appearance but they mostly apply to active duty military in a war zone kind of stuff***

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Now, remember when we mentioned that pesky little 72 hour wait period? Well folks, it's true. I am not sure if any person alive today knows why that rule is place but there you have it. What you need to know is that the state has a loop hole...It's premarital counseling taken anytime in the year prior to applying for your marriage license. We have link to the online version on the very bottom of our webpage. The class that most counties should recognize is called Twogether in Texas. It's an online 8 hour course covering a variety of topics. If you complete this course and present it to the clerk, they should give you a waiver of the wait period.

According to the Galveston CC's website, the following are the reasons a waiver of the wait period will be given:

A) THE APPLICANT IS ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY.

B) THE APPLICANTS COMPLETE A "TWOGETHER IN TEXAS" PREMARITAL EDUCATION COURSE APPROVED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS, AND PROVIDES THE MARITAL EDUCATION COURSE COMPLETION CERTIFICATE TO THE COUNTY CLERK.

C) THE APPLICANT OBTAINS A WRITTEN WAIVER FROM A JUDGE OF A COURT WITH JURISDICTION IN FAMILY LAW CASES. (Section 2.204 Texas Family Code).

And another added bonus of the course:

Couples attending a qualifying premarital education class will have the $60 state marriage license fee waived, as well as the 72-hour waiting period. Visit http://twogetherintexas.com for more information. Now, this won't make the license free but it will save you some money. The cost of the course is usually around $25 and the county will charge a fee but in our humble opinion, any money saved is a good thing!!

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I always suggest that you visit the web page or call the clerk's office where you intend to apply for your license to make sure that nothing has changed with these rules/laws as I understand them.

Be sure to adjust your travel plans if necessary to be sure that both of you are able to go in person to the clerk's office and show ID when applying for your license and that you have your valid license on wedding day. The license is good for 90 days after it becomes valid. If you fail to use it during that period, it will expire and then you have to start all over again.

Make sure you bring the license with you so we can sign off on it after the ceremony. It will need to be returned to the same county it was issued from. I can mail it back, but I highly recommend that you walk it back in to be filed. If the license is lost in the mail, you must buy another one, mail it back to Glaveston for signatures and then it has to be returned to the clerk to be filed. This situation can be very inconvenient if you need to change your name or get insurance benefits setlled.

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I hope that answers all of your questions about marriage licenses in Texas. If not, just give me a call or text or even reach out to the clerk's office of your choosing. They are responsible for upholding the Texas Family Code as it applies to marriage license requirements.

I am NOT an attorney-I referred to The Texas Family code as it is published on the GCC web site and the Texas AG's office web page for information.

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Blessings to you and as always-If I can do anything to help, pleaase let me know.

Until next time!

TM