Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
- Home
- Your Government
- Departments
- Town Clerk
- Marriages
- Requirements
Requirements
Age Requirements
A person is required to establish proof of age and identity by submitting to the issuing clerk one of the following age related documents:
Familial Restrictions
A marriage may not take place in New York State between an ancestor and descendant, siblings (full or half blood), an uncle / aunt and a nephew / niece, regardless of whether or not these persons are legitimate or illegitimate offspring.
Previous Marriages
Documentation regarding previous marriages must be furnished when applying for a marriage license. Providing a certified copy of the Decree of Divorce, or a Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage or certified Death Certificate is required.
Surname Options
A person's last name (surname) does not automatically change upon marriage, and neither party to the marriage is required to change his or her last name. A couple need not take the same last name.
The new name must consist of one of the following options:
Whether you decide to use or not use this option at the time of your marriage license application, you still have the right to adopt a different name through usage at some future date. However, your marriage license cannot be changed to record a surname you decide to use after your marriage.
- If either applicant is under 14 years of age, a marriage license cannot be issued
- If either applicant is 14 or 15 years of age, such applicant(s) must present the written consent of both parents and a justice of the Supreme Court or a judge of the Family Court having jurisdiction over the town or city in which the application is made
- If either applicant is 16 or 17 years of age, such applicant(s) must present the written consent of both parents
- If both applicants are 18 years of age or older, no consents are required
- The other parent has been missing for one year preceding the application
- The parents are divorced and the consenting parent was given sole custody of the child when the divorce decree was awarded
- The other parent has been judged incompetent
- The other parent is deceased
A person is required to establish proof of age and identity by submitting to the issuing clerk one of the following age related documents:
- Birth Certificate
- Baptismal Record
- Naturalization Record
- Census Record
- Driver’s License
- Passport
- Employment Picture ID
- Immigration Record
Familial Restrictions
A marriage may not take place in New York State between an ancestor and descendant, siblings (full or half blood), an uncle / aunt and a nephew / niece, regardless of whether or not these persons are legitimate or illegitimate offspring.
Previous Marriages
Documentation regarding previous marriages must be furnished when applying for a marriage license. Providing a certified copy of the Decree of Divorce, or a Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage or certified Death Certificate is required.
Surname Options
A person's last name (surname) does not automatically change upon marriage, and neither party to the marriage is required to change his or her last name. A couple need not take the same last name.
The new name must consist of one of the following options:
- The surname of the other spouse
- Any former surname of either spouse
- A name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the pre-marriage surname or any former surname of each spouse
- A combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the pre-marriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses
Whether you decide to use or not use this option at the time of your marriage license application, you still have the right to adopt a different name through usage at some future date. However, your marriage license cannot be changed to record a surname you decide to use after your marriage.