Also known as: marriage certificate · marriage certs · certificate of marriage · marriage cert
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An official document issued by a marriage license clerk that records the solemnization of a marriage after the required application, fee payment, and proof of eligibility have been furnished. The form is completed by the officiant or a party and returned for registration in the public vital records system. Statements of fact contained in a properly recorded marriage certificate qualify for admission under the hearsay exception for vital statistics.
Matthew Martinez and Mina Mehta completed and signed a marriage application at the county office. Matthew appeared before the clerk, paid the license fee, and supplied proof that both parties were over eighteen and free of any prohibiting prior marriage. The clerk issued the license together with the marriage certificate form that the officiant later completed and returned for registration.
Michael Miller offered a certified copy of his marriage certificate from the county vital records office to establish that he had been married to the decedent. The clerk testified that the officiant had filed the completed form pursuant to a legal duty. The court admitted the certificate over a hearsay objection because it qualified as a public record of a reported marriage.
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The applicant must complete and sign the marriage application with the prospective spouse, appear before the clerk, pay the license fee, and supply satisfactory proof of age and that the marriage is not prohibited. Once those steps occur the clerk issues both the license and the certificate form.
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Yes. A certified marriage certificate on file with a county clerk is admissible under the vital statistics hearsay exception because the marriage was reported to a public office pursuant to a legal duty. The exception applies even though the declarant is unavailable.
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No. A facially valid, unstayed divorce decree reciting finality supplies satisfactory proof that a prior marriage has ended. The clerk must issue the license and certificate form even while an appeal remains pending.
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