Bucks County Marriage License

Getting your Marriage License in Bucks County

Marriage License - info from http://www.buckscounty.org/departments/registerofwills/index.html

Marriage in Pennsylvania

The Clerk of Orphans' Court Division of the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas is pleased to be of assistance to you and your future spouse. We have prepared the following list of requirements to help you make application for your marriage license. Should you have any question, you may reach us Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. by telephone:

Direct Line	215-348-6271
Lower Bucks County	215-946-8900 or 215-355-7497
Upper Bucks County	215-536-4680
Email address	orphanscourt@co.bucks.pa.us

WHERE TO APPLY
A male and female applicant must appear together in person either at the Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown any weekday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or at the office of a Bucks County District Justice. For your added convenience our Courthouse office remains open, for Bucks County residents, the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month until 7:30 p.m. On these "convenience" evenings, you are asked to enter the Courthouse through the Broad Street Entrance and sign in at the security desk.

PROOF OF AGE AND IDENTITY
Each applicant must be 18 years of age or older and present his Social Security number and proof of identity and age when applying for a marriage license. Acceptable means of proof are:

Driver's license
Birth Certificate
Passport

The Clerk cannot accept an application from a person who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

MINOR APPLICANTS

Applicants Who Are Under Age Eighteen:
1. Each applicant under the age of eighteen must be accompanied by a parent or Court appointed guardian in person before the Clerk of the Orphans' Court to sign a written form consenting to the marriage. A parent or guardian who is unable to appear in person must sign a consent form, obtainable from the Orphans' Court, in the presence of notary public or district justice, and two witnesses must attest to the signature. The district justice may be one of the attesting witnesses.
No Legal Guardian or Parent's Whereabouts Unknown:
1. The minor applicant must file a petition requesting a Judge of the Orphans' Court Division to appoint a guardian ad litem (temporary guardian).
Applicants Who are Under Age Sixteen:
1. A Judge of the Orphans' Court Division must authorize the Clerk to issue the marriage license if either applicant is under the age of sixteen years. The applicant's father or mother or court appointed guardian must accompany the applicant to sign a petition supplied by the Clerk.

PREVIOUSLY MARRIED APPLICANTS
Divorce or Annulment:

The applicant must submit a copy of the most recent divorce or annulment decree.
If a court of a foreign country entered the decree, the applicants must submit a copy of the decree with an English translation and the translator's notarized affidavit stating his/her qualifications and the fact that he/she has made an accurate translation.
If a felmale applicant wishes to apply for a marriage license in her prior or maiden name, she must present a certified copy of her notice or intention to resume the name. Such notice is generally on file with the Clerk of Court which entered the divorce decree. If she used her prior name consistently since the divorce without filing a notice of resumption, she must sign an affidavit of such continuous on a form available from the Clerk.

Widow or Widower:

Submit proof of death of most recent former spouse by death certificate or obituary notice. (Consult your attorney about special statutory provisions applicable to former spouses who have disappeared and are presumed dead.)

MENTAL DEFICIENCY
If either of the applicants is weak-minded, insane, of unsound mind or under guardianship as a person of unsound mind, that applicant must submit a letter from the attending physician stating the extent of such condition and that it is in the best interest of the applicant and the general public that the license should be issued. A Judge of the Orphans' Court Division, upon petition, will decide whether a marriage license will be issued.

THREE DAY WAITING PERIOD
The Clerk cannot issue a marriage licence until the third day following the date of the most recent application (e.g., if the application is made on the tenth of the month, the Clerk will issue the license on the thirteenth).

In an emergency or where extraordinary circumstances exist, a Judge of the Orphans' Court Division, upon petition on a form supplied by the Clerk, may grant a waiver of the three day period.

A military applicant on active duty upon short leave may obtain a waiver of the three day waiting period upon petition made in person through the Orphans' Court Clerk to a Judge of the Orphans' Court Division. There is no fee for an active military waiver.

VALIDITY
The marriage license is valid for 60 days.

RESIDENCE OF APPLICANTS AND PLACE OF MARRIAGE
There is no residency requirement to apply for and obtain a Pennsylvania marriage license. Since this is a state license, the wedding ceremony may take place in any county within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

FEES: Effective February 4, 2002

	ORPHANS' COURT	DISTRICT JUSTICE
Marriage license application and certification	$50.00	$52.00*
Certified Copy of marriage license	$20.00	$20.00
Each consent	$10.00	$10.00
Affidavit of name verification	$10.00	$10.00
Special petitions:
Appointment of guardian ad litem	$60.00
Waiver, under age 16	$35.00
Waiver, 3-day waiting period
Emergency	$35.00
Military	n/c
Petition, mental deficiency	$60.00

*Includes computerization/records management surcharge.
NOTE: When making application, fee is payable in CASH or MONEY ORDER, personal checks are not accepted.

RELATIVES
Blood relative down to and including first cousins, may not marry under the laws of Pennsylvania. For other prohibition, check with the Clerk of Orphans' Court or your attorney.

INTOXICATION OR DRUG ABUSE
The marriage law forbids the Clerk to issue a marriage license if either applicant is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug at the time they make their application.

CRIMINAL PENALTIES
Misrepresentation of facts upon a marriage license application is a criminal offense subject to penalties set forth of the Crime Code sections 4903 & 4904. 18 Pa.C.S 4903, 4904.

APPEAL
Applicants aggrieved by refusal of the Clerk to issue a marriage license may appeal pursuant to Section 1308 of the Marriage Law, 23 Pa.S.1308.

Register of Wills & Orphans' Court
Barbara G. Reilly
55 East Court Street
3rd Floor, Administration Building
Doylestown, PA 18901
215-348-6265 - Register of Wills
215-348-6271 - Orphans' Court
215-348-6156 - Fax
registerofwills@co.bucks.pa.us
orphanscourt@co.bucks.pa.us

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