EXPLAINER: What Do I Need to Get Married in California and How Do I Do It?

In California two people need a minimum of THREE things* to be married in a legally binding ceremony.

1) VOWS
2) MARRIAGE LICENSE
3) OFFICIANT

That's IT! This means you don't need rings or dowries or other gifts, nor do you need groomsmen, bridesmaids or cake. In fact, you don't even need to kiss!

The official site for California legislative information states that California Law consists of 29 codes, covering various subject areas, the State Constitution and Statutes. The subject area that marriage law falls under is known as the California Family Code.

Inclusive, modern LGBT wedding officiant. (Photo ©LilyRo)

California Family Code states "Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract...to which the consent of the parties capable of making that contract is necessary. Consent alone does not constitute marriage. Consent must be followed by the issuance of a license and solemnization..." (see California Family Code, Section 300. (a) ).

In other words -

What must you do or say at your wedding?
1) VOWS: There must be a couple, two individuals over the age of eighteen. The parties being married need to declare out loud that they take the other person as their husband or wife.

1) Vows.

What must you have or get to be married?
2) MARRIAGE LICENSE: You need to obtain a document that permits you to marry, also known as a marriage license. Most marriage licenses are obtained by the couple in person from a county clerk-recorder office. Some other qualified people and notaries can also issue marriage licenses.

*Please note, there are two different kinds of marriage licenses in California: PUBLIC and CONFIDENTIAL. Please see my previous post to learn the difference between a public and confidential marriage license in California. If you choose to get the public marriage license, you are required to have one, no more than two, witnesses over the age of 18. So, depending on the type of your marriage license, you may need 3 1/2 things to be married in California...

2) Marriage license.

Who is allowed to marry you?
3) OFFICIANT: In short, clergy people, judges, public government representatives, and deputized individuals are allowed to perform a legal marriage ceremony.

3) Qualified officiant. (Photo ©Tara Sielig)

 And, in case you don't believe it's that simple, these references are straight out of the CA Family Code website:

1) VOWS - "No particular form for the ceremony of marriage is required for solemnization of the marriage, but the parties shall declare, in the physical presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and necessary witnesses, that they take each other as husband and wife." (Section 420. (a) )

2) MARRIAGE LICENSE - "Before entering a marriage, or declaring a marriage... the parties shall first obtain a marriage license from a county clerk." (Section 350. (a) )

3) OFFICIANT - "Although marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil, and not a religious, contract, a marriage may be solemnized by any of the following who is 18 years of age or older: A priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination." (Section 400 (a) )

It goes on to state that judges, justices, magistrates; retired judges, justices and magistrates; and " A legislator or constitutional officer of this state or a Member of Congress who represents a district within this state, while that person holds office" are also qualified to solemnize marriages.

SO...if you need help with your marriage vows, assistance getting a marriage license,  or want a qualified, trained, experienced person to officiate your ceremony, please contact A Non-Denominational Ceremony!  Thank you!!!

NEWS: LGBT Couples Must Wait a Few More Months to Marry in CA

The Ninth Circuit STAYS Judge Walker’s ruling; Appeal Scheduled Dec. 6th
#1: Same-sex couples will have to wait until at least December, to be married in California.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the stay.
#2: The Court desires a quick resolution and they understand the importance of the case.  Therefore, Prop. 8 supporters’ opening brief is due in just a month and the hearing will happen on December 6th.
#3: The Court specifically orders Prop 8 proponents to show why this case should not be dismissed for lack of standing.



The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, overrides Judge Vaughn Walker's order to allow county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who handles emergency motions in the West for the high court, may be consulted if Prop. 8 supporters successfully appeal.

Per Prop. 8 Trial Tracker

More info at REUTERS.

NEWS: California's Proposition 8 Closing Arguments - transcripts, tweets, briefs and more!

Today's Proposition 8 closing arguments from the California Supreme Court in Sacramento have been closed to cameras, but on the internet, there's a lot of information updating on a regular basis.

The AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS has a live ongoing transcript of today's Prop. 8 final arguments.  The organization will be posting an official, court-approved transcript later today.

As you may expect, there are live tweets from the courtroom:  @AmerEqualRights and @NCLRights .

The State of California's website has a throrough record of all Proposition 8 related legal documents, petitions, briefs and orders. 

Here's a peek at some HOMEWORK QUESTIONS the court provided the plaintiff and defendant to prepare for closing arguments.  According to the document itself,

"The court provides the following questions to the parties in advance of closing arguments. What follows is by no means an exhaustive list of questions, but is intended simply to assist the parties in focusing their closing arguments."

KQED's Scott Shafer has been on NPR, reporting about the end of testimony and the start of closing arguments.
KQED's Prop. 8 blogs may be found here.

Please share your live news!

NEWS: Los Angeles Marriage License Fees to Increase Starting January 2010

Los Angeles County will soon begin charging more to issue marriage licenses beginning in the new year, as heard on local news outlets and in the L.A. Times. A memo recommending the marriage license fee increase to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors states the new fee would go into effect on January 21, 2010 or "thirty days from the date of Board passage" (which in this case was December 22, 2009).

This would make the cost of a public marriage license to go up from $70 to $90, and the cost of a confidential marriage license to go up from $70 to $85. To see the difference between public and confidential marriage licenses, please see this earlier post.

The fee increase is expected to bring another half-million dollars in revenue to L.A. County. A quick google search did not produce any planned increase in Orange County, nor did the O.C. Clerk-Recorder's website state anything, but considering how large the deficit is across the state of California, similar fee increases cannot be far behind...?!

EXPLAINER: Public vs. Confidential Marriage Licenses

What is the difference between a PUBLIC marriage license, and a CONFIDENTIAL marriage license?

As you may already know, to be married in the state of California, regardless of where you choose to be married, you must obtain a marriage license. To obtain a marriage license, you must: 1) be over the age of 18; 2) appear together in person at the Clerk/Recorder office; and 3) present valid identification. In addition, if you have had a marriage dissolved in the past 90 days, you must show proof of dissolution. If your previous spouse passed away, you must show a death certificate or the equivalent.

There are two marriage license options: public and confidential. In a nutshell, the difference between these two types of licenses is explained below:

PUBLIC Marriage License

*PUBLIC (as defined on dictionary.com): Open to all persons; generally known; open to the view of all. Of, pertaining to, or affecting a population or a community as a whole; existing or conducted in public.
*License is public record, and anyone requesting a copy or information on the record will be given it.
*Cost: $61.50 in Orange County $90.00 in Los Angeles County
*Needs signature of at least one witness over 18 years old.
*Obtain in any county in California and have wedding ceremony in any county in California.
*License is valid for 90 days.

CONFIDENTIAL Marriage License

*CONFIDENTIAL (as defined on dictionary.com): Bearing the classification confidential (usually being above restricted and below secret) and limited to persons authorized to use information, documents, etc., so classified. Spoken, written, acted on, etc., in strict privacy or secrecy; secret. Having another's trust or confidence.
*License is a confidential record, and the only people able to obtain information of this record are the couple, except under certain circumstances.
*Cost: $66.50 in Orange County,  $85.00 in Los Angeles County
*No witness necessary.
*Wedding ceremony must be held in county where license was obtained.
*License is valid for 90 days.
*Couple must be living together for 6 months prior to marriage.

Please contact A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY for further information about marriage licenses. See our interactive map of offices to obtain a marriage license in Los Angeles, Orange County and greater Southern California!

NEWS: California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, rejecting state marriage laws as discriminatory. The Court overturned a gay marriage ban in a 4-3 ruling that would make the nation's largest state the second one to allow gay and lesbian weddings. The justices' decision says domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage. Chief Justice Ron George wrote the opinion.

Read the FULL TEXT OF THE RULING in pdf.

Today's ruling by the Republican-dominated court affects more than 100,000 same-sex couples in the state, about a quarter of whom have children, according to U.S. census figures. It came after high courts in New York, Washington and New Jersey refused to extend marriage rights to gay couples. Before today, only Massachusetts' top court has ruled in favor of permitting gays to wed.

The state high court's ruling was unlikely to end the debate over gay matrimony in California. A group has circulated petitions for a November ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution to block same-sex marriage, while the Legislature has twice passed bills to authorize gay marriage. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed both.

Listen to an informative piece from NPR today.

The above was culled from several sources. Go to the Los Angeles Times or the Associated Press for further reading.