VT State Seal
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Here is some key information about Vermont’s marriage laws. If you need more information, or if your questions are not answered on this page, please contact either your Town Clerk or the Vital Records Unit of the Vermont Department of Health, in the state’s Agency of Human Services, @ 1.800.439.5008.
The Marriage License
(1) The Marriage License is obtained through your Town Clerk. If both parties are Vermont residents, you can get your license in either town of residence; if only one of you is a Vermont resident, that party must apply to his or her Town Clerk for the License. If neither party is a resident, you can apply to any Town Clerk in Vermont.
(2) Marriage Licenses may be issued to any two people who are 18 years of age or older. People who have reached their 16th birthday may be married with the legal consent of a parent or guardian. That person must be present when you apply to the Town Clerk for a License, in order to sign an affidavit granting you permission to marry. People who are between 14 and 16 can only be married if they obtain a judge’s Certificate authorizing the marriage. That Certificate must be presented to the Town Clerk when you apply for a Marriage License.
To obtain a judge’s Certificate, persons between the ages of 14 and 16 who are residents of Vermont must go before a probate, district, or superior court judge in the county or district where they reside. Persons who are not residents of Vermont must go before a judge in the county or district in which the wedding will take place.
No one under the age of 14 may be married in Vermont.
(3) To obtain a Marriage License, you must furnish the following information to the Town Clerk:
- demographic information: your race, education level, number of previous marriages and how they ended;
- your place and date of birth;
- your current legal town of residence;
- your mother’s and father’s names, including you mother’s maiden name.
(4) Normally, the Town Clerk will want to see both parties to the marriage before issuing the License because Vermont law requires that they satisfy themselves that you are both free to marry in accordance with the laws of the state. Clerks may also legally require each of you to produce documents to confirm the information you provide - such as birth certificates, divorce decrees, death certificates of deceased former spouses, and any other documentation that will satisfy the Clerk that your information is accurate and truthful.
At least one party to the wedding must sign in the presence of the Town Clerk, affirming the accuracy and honesty of the information provided.
(5) A Vermont Marriage License may be secured up to 2 months prior to the wedding. It is valid anywhere in the state. If the marriage does not take place, the License will automatically expire 60 days after the date it was issued. Following the marriage ceremony, the License must be returned to the Town Clerk who issued it within 10 days of the stated date of marriage.
(6) The License must be delivered to the person officiating at the marriage, and the officiant must have custody of the license before performing the marriage ceremony. Following the ceremony, the officiant must complete designated sections of the License. (Normally, the officiant takes responsibility for returning the License to the issuing Town Clerk, freeing the newly-married couple to embark on their honeymoon without worrying about that detail.)
(7) Vermont does not require that you have witnesses to your marriage; however some religious bodies do. Witnesses sign the License after the wedding. (It is common to have the Best Man and Maid of Honor serve as witnesses, when marriage services include those roles.)
(8) Once your Marriage License has been recorded, your certified copy is legal for all legal purposes – such as for obtaining new Social Security cards, passports, driver’s licenses, making changes to insurance and legal documents, and so on.
Marriage Restrictions
(1) No one under the age of 14 may be married in Vermont.
(2) No one under legal guardianship may be married without the written permission of the guardian.
(3) Vermont will not marry close relatives, such as: your mother, father, brother, sister, grandchild, grandparent, niece, nephew, aunt, or uncle. However, Vermont residents who are first cousins may marry; and Vermont will marry first cousins who reside in other states so long as the state of residence allows first cousins to marry.
(4) No one can be married in Vermont who is currently married to another person.
(5) No one may be married by proxy.
(6) Only persons of “sound mind” may be married in the state.
(7) You can be married in Vermont by any of the following: a justice of the peace, an ordained or licensed rabbi, priest, or minister who lives in Vermont and is authorized by his or her religious order to perform weddings, or a Vermont judge, assistant judge or Supreme Court justice.
Your marriage may be performed in Vermont by a rabbi, priest or minister who resides in another state if that clergy person secures advance authorization from a probate court in the district where the marriage will be conducted.
(8) Vermont does not require a blood test, and there is no waiting period between obtaining the License and solemnizing the marriage.
State Fees
(1) The Vermont Marriage License costs $45, payable to the Town Clerk.
(2) To obtain a copy of your marriage certificate, you can arrange with the Town Clerk to mail a certified copy of your Certificate of Marriage as soon as it is recorded. The fee for that service is $10.
(3) Alternatively, you can request a certified copy of the Certificate of Marriage from the State 6 weeks or more after the date of marriage. You may request the copy in person at 108 Cherry St, Burlington VT. Or you may submit a written request to: Vital Records Unit, Vermont Department of Health, Agency of Human Services, PO Box 70, Burlington VT 05402. Again, the cost will be $10.
