Illinois Wedding Laws
Home to both the tallest building in the country and the flattest wetlands and farmlands, Illinois is a study in contrast. While the prospect of obtaining a marriage license and holding a wedding here can be intimidating at first, taking the process step by step makes it more manageable. The following guide can help you make sure that you have met all the applicable requirements so that your Illinois wedding will be legally binding.
Getting Married in Illinois
- Marriage By Proxy Allowed:
- No
- Minister Required to be Present:
- Yes
- Number of Witnesses Required:
- None
- Min. Age of Witnesses:
- N/A
- Couple's Consent Required:
- Yes
- Pronouncement Required:
- Yes
For a marriage to be legally binding, Illinois law requires you and your intended spouse to make a solemn declaration of your consent to marry one another during the ceremony in the presence of the officiant. The officiant must then make a pronouncement officially solemnizing your union. There is no requirement for witnesses to be present, nor does state law mandate that the ceremony follow any other specific format or structure. This allows you to honor your own traditions or customs when planning and carrying out the ceremony.
To protect nondenominational ministries, churches, synagogues, mosques, or temples from criminal or civil liability, Illinois law relieves them of the obligation to host a marriage ceremony deemed in violation of their religious practices or beliefs.
(a-10) No church, mosque, synagogue, temple, nondenominational ministry, interdenominational or ecumenical organization, mission organization, or other organization whose principal purpose is the study, practice, or advancement of religion is required to provide religious facilities for the solemnization ceremony or celebration associated with the solemnization ceremony of a marriage if the solemnization ceremony or celebration associated with the solemnization ceremony is in violation of its religious beliefs. An entity identified in this subsection (a-10) shall be immune from any civil, administrative, criminal penalty, claim, or cause of action based on its refusal to provide religious facilities for the solemnization ceremony or celebration associated with the solemnization ceremony of a marriage if the solemnization ceremony or celebration associated with the solemnization ceremony is in violation of its religious beliefs. As used in this subsection (a-10), "religious facilities" means sanctuaries, parish halls, fellowship halls, and similar facilities. "Religious facilities" does not include facilities such as businesses, health care facilities, educational facilities, or social service agencies.
Illinois Marriage Requirements
- Min. Age of Couple:
- Age 18 or Age 16 with Guardian Consent
- Residency:
- Not Required
- Min. Distance of Kin Allowed:
- Second Cousins
- Marriage Equality:
- Yes
Illinois welcomes both nonresidents and same-sex couples to get married within its boundaries. However, it does require that both you and your prospective spouse be at least 18 years old. If both parents or legal guardians give consent to the marriage, a minor at least 16 years old can be allowed to marry. There is even an exception that if every effort has been made to reach one of the parents or guardians yet he or she remains unavailable, the county clerk can issue the marriage license anyway with a court order.
Relatives closer than second cousins generally cannot marry one another in Illinois. However, the state may make an exception for first cousins if one is infertile or both are older than 50.
(750 ILCS 5/202) (from Ch. 40, par. 202)
Sec. 202. Marriage License and Marriage Certificate.)
(a) The Director of Public Health shall prescribe the form for an application for a marriage license, which shall include the following information:
(1) name, sex, occupation, address, social security number, date and place of birth of each party to the proposed marriage;
(2) if either party was previously married, his name, and the date, place and court in which the marriage was dissolved or declared invalid or the date and place of death of the former spouse;
(3) name and address of the parents or guardian of each party; and
(4) whether the parties are related to each other and, if so, their relationship.
(b) The Director of Public Health shall prescribe the forms for the marriage license, the marriage certificate and, when necessary, the consent to marriage.
(Source: P.A. 80-923.)
How to Become a Wedding Officiant in Illinois
- Min. Age of Minister:
- Age 18
- Residency:
- Not Required
- Document(s) Required:
- Varies by County
- Online Ordination Recognized:
- Yes
- Relevant Office of Registration:
- County Clerk
- Latest Document(s) Submission Date Allowed:
- After the Ceremony
- Minister I.D. # Issued:
- No
A wide range of officials, both civil and religious, are authorized to solemnize marriages under Illinois law. The baseline requirement is that they all must be at least 18 years of age. Civil officials include mayors, county clerks if they serve over two million inhabitants, and judges if they have not been removed from office. Retired mayors and judges are still allowed to perform marriages but cannot receive compensation for it. Recognized heads of an Indigenous tribe can also officiate at a wedding.
Authorized officials of any religious denomination are also allowed to perform wedding ceremonies. Although an individual's personal beliefs, residence, or gender has no bearing on his or her ability to be ordained online by the Universal Life Church or perform a wedding in Illinois, state law nevertheless regards such an individual as a "religious actor."
(a) A marriage may be solemnized by a judge of a court of record, by a retired judge of a court of record, unless the retired judge was removed from office by the Judicial Inquiry Board, except that a retired judge shall not receive any compensation from the State, a county or any unit of local government in return for the solemnization of a marriage and there shall be no effect upon any pension benefits conferred by the Judges Retirement System of Illinois, by a judge of the Court of Claims, by a county clerk in counties having 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, by a public official whose powers include solemnization of marriages, by a mayor or president of a city, village, or incorporated town who is in office on the date of the solemnization, or in accordance with the prescriptions of any religious denomination, Indian Nation or Tribe or Native Group, provided that when such prescriptions require an officiant, the officiant be in good standing with his or her religious denomination, Indian Nation or Tribe or Native Group. Either the person solemnizing the marriage, or, if no individual acting alone solemnized the marriage, both parties to the marriage, shall complete the marriage certificate form and forward it to the county clerk within 10 days after such marriage is solemnized. A mayor or president of a city, village, or incorporated town shall not receive any compensation in return for the solemnization of a marriage.
Applying For a Marriage License in Illinois
- ULC-Officiated Ceremony Type:
- Religious
- Mandatory Waiting Period:
- 1 Day
- License Valid For:
- 60 Days
- License Must Be Submitted:
- Within 10 Days of Ceremony
The clerk will review the information on your application and issue your license if everything checks out. Unless special circumstances warrant a court order to make it immediately valid, it takes effect the day after it is issued. It then remains in effect for 60 days and is only valid in the county where you applied initially. If no wedding takes place by the 60-day mark, you must return the incomplete marriage license to the county clerk's office. Otherwise, it must be returned within 10 days following the ceremony.
(750 ILCS 5/207) (from Ch. 40, par. 207)
Sec. 207. Effective Date of License.) A license to marry becomes effective in the county where it was issued one day after the date of issuance, unless the court orders that the license is effective when issued, and expires 60 days after it becomes effective, provided that the marriage is not invalidated by the fact that the marriage was inadvertently solemnized in a county in Illinois other than the county where the license was issued.
(Source: P.A. 95-775, eff. 1-1-09.)
How to Get an Illinois Marriage License
- Who Picks Up License:
- The Couple
- Where License is Valid:
- County of Issuance
- Marriage License Pick-Up:
- In Person Only
- Cost of License:
- Varies by County
- Accepted I.D. Types:
- Standard Government Issued ID
- Proof of Divorce Required (If Applicable):
- Yes
- Blood Test Required:
- No
The fee that you must pay to obtain your Illinois marriage license depends on the county where you apply. You should apply in the county where the ceremony will take place by presenting yourself in person to the clerk of that county and completing a written application. If applicable, you must provide names and addresses of any guardians consenting to the marriage of a minor and divulge if you are related in any way. You do not have to provide certified copies of divorce decrees unless either you or your prospective spouse have been divorced within the last six months. However, you do have to reveal any previous marriages.
Otherwise, the information you and your future spouse must provide on your application is fairly straightforward and includes your names, dates and places of birth, addresses, sexes, occupations, and Social Security numbers.
Sec. 203. License to Marry. When a marriage application has been completed and signed by both parties to a prospective marriage and both parties have appeared before the county clerk and the marriage license fee has been paid, the county clerk shall issue a license to marry and a marriage certificate form upon being furnished:
(1) satisfactory proof that each party to the
marriage will have attained the age of 18 years at the time the marriage license is effective or will have attained the age of 16 years and has either the consent to the marriage of both parents or his guardian or judicial approval; provided, if one parent cannot be located in order to obtain such consent and diligent efforts have been made to locate that parent by the consenting parent, then the consent of one parent plus a signed affidavit by the consenting parent which (i) names the absent parent and states that he or she cannot be located, and (ii) states what diligent efforts have been made to locate the absent parent, shall have the effect of both parents' consent for purposes of this Section;
(2) satisfactory proof that the marriage is not
prohibited; and
(3) an affidavit or record as prescribed in
subparagraph (1) of Section 205 or a court order as prescribed in subparagraph (2) of Section 205, if applicable.
Finalizing the Union
- Officiant's Title on Marriage License:
- Minister
- Church/Ordaining Body:
- Universal Life Church Ministries
- Address of Church:
- Minister's Home Address
The responsibility for completing the marriage certificate and returning it to the county clerk who issued it belongs to the officiant who solemnized the ceremony. He or she has 10 days in which to comply. The information will become part of the state record permanently after the county clerk returns it to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The officiant must include his or her own name, title, and home address on the certificate according to the requirements outlined on the form itself. A ULC minister can enter Universal Life Church Ministries if asked to identify the ordaining body. Otherwise, the certificate should include the location and date that the wedding took place.
(750 ILCS 5/210) (from Ch. 40, par. 210)
Sec. 210. Registration of Marriage Certificate.) Upon receipt of the marriage certificate, the county clerk shall register the marriage. Within 45 days after the close of the month in which a marriage is registered, the county clerk shall make to the Department of Public Health a return of such marriage. Such return shall be made on a form furnished by the Department of Public Health and shall substantially consist of the following items:
(1) A copy of the marriage license application signed and attested to by the applicants, except that in any county in which the information provided in a marriage license application is entered into a computer, the county clerk may submit a computer copy of such information without the signatures and attestations of the applicants.
(2) The date and place of marriage.
(3) The marriage license number.