Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Chapter 517

Section 517.08

Topics

Recent History

517.08 APPLICATION FOR LICENSE.
    Subdivision 1.[Renumbered subds 1a and 1b]
    Subd. 1a. Form. Application for a marriage license shall be made upon a form provided
for the purpose and shall contain the following information:
(1) the full names of the parties and the sex of each party;
(2) their post office addresses and county and state of residence;
(3) their full ages;
(4) if either party has previously been married, the party's married name, and the date,
place and court in which the marriage was dissolved or annulled or the date and place of death
of the former spouse;
(5) if either party is a minor, the name and address of the minor's parents or guardian;
(6) whether the parties are related to each other, and, if so, their relationship;
(7) the name and date of birth of any child of which both parties are parents, born before
the making of the application, unless their parental rights and the parent and child relationship
with respect to the child have been terminated;
(8) address of the bride and groom after the marriage to which the court administrator shall
send a certified copy of the marriage certificate;
(9) the full names the parties will have after marriage and the parties' Social Security
numbers. The Social Security numbers must be collected for the application but must not appear
on the marriage license;
(10) if one or both of the parties to the marriage license has a felony conviction under
Minnesota law or the law of another state or federal jurisdiction, the parties shall provide to the
county proof of service upon the prosecuting authority and, if applicable, the attorney general,
as required by section 259.13; and
(11) notice that a party who has a felony conviction under Minnesota law or the law of
another state or federal jurisdiction may not use a different surname after marriage except as
authorized by section 259.13, and that doing so is a gross misdemeanor.
    Subd. 1b. Term of license; fee; premarital education. (a) The local registrar shall examine
upon oath the party applying for a license relative to the legality of the contemplated marriage. If
at the expiration of a five-day period, on being satisfied that there is no legal impediment to it,
including the restriction contained in section 259.13, the local registrar shall issue the license,
containing the full names of the parties before and after marriage, and county and state of
residence, with the county seal attached, and make a record of the date of issuance. The license
shall be valid for a period of six months. In case of emergency or extraordinary circumstances, a
judge of the district court of the county in which the application is made, may authorize the license
to be issued at any time before the expiration of the five days. Except as provided in paragraph
(b), the local registrar shall collect from the applicant a fee of $110 for administering the oath,
issuing, recording, and filing all papers required, and preparing and transmitting to the state
registrar of vital statistics the reports of marriage required by this section. If the license should not
be used within the period of six months due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, it may
be surrendered to the local registrar for cancellation, and in that case a new license shall issue
upon request of the parties of the original license without fee. A local registrar who knowingly
issues or signs a marriage license in any manner other than as provided in this section shall pay to
the parties aggrieved an amount not to exceed $1,000.
    (b) The marriage license fee for parties who have completed at least 12 hours of premarital
education is $40. In order to qualify for the reduced license fee, the parties must submit at the
time of applying for the marriage license a signed and dated statement from the person who
provided the premarital education confirming that it was received. The premarital education must
be provided by a licensed or ordained minister or the minister's designee, a person authorized to
solemnize marriages under section 517.18, or a person authorized to practice marriage and family
therapy under section 148B.33. The education must include the use of a premarital inventory and
the teaching of communication and conflict management skills.
    (c) The statement from the person who provided the premarital education under paragraph
(b) must be in the following form:
    "I, (name of educator), confirm that (names of both parties) received at least 12 hours
of premarital education that included the use of a premarital inventory and the teaching of
communication and conflict management skills. I am a licensed or ordained minister, a person
authorized to solemnize marriages under Minnesota Statutes, section 517.18, or a person licensed
to practice marriage and family therapy under Minnesota Statutes, section 148B.33."
    The names of the parties in the educator's statement must be identical to the legal names of
the parties as they appear in the marriage license application. Notwithstanding section 138.17, the
educator's statement must be retained for seven years, after which time it may be destroyed.
    (d) If section 259.13 applies to the request for a marriage license, the local registrar shall
grant the marriage license without the requested name change. Alternatively, the local registrar
may delay the granting of the marriage license until the party with the conviction:
    (1) certifies under oath that 30 days have passed since service of the notice for a name
change upon the prosecuting authority and, if applicable, the attorney general and no objection
has been filed under section 259.13; or
    (2) provides a certified copy of the court order granting it. The parties seeking the marriage
license shall have the right to choose to have the license granted without the name change or to
delay its granting pending further action on the name change request.
    Subd. 1c. Disposition of license fee. (a) Of the marriage license fee collected pursuant to
subdivision 1b, paragraph (a), $25 must be retained by the county. The local registrar must pay
$85 to the commissioner of finance to be deposited as follows:
    (1) $50 in the general fund;
    (2) $3 in the state government special revenue fund to be appropriated to the commissioner
of public safety for parenting time centers under section 119A.37;
    (3) $2 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to the commissioner of health for
developing and implementing the MN ENABL program under section 145.9255;
    (4) $25 in the special revenue fund is appropriated to the commissioner of employment and
economic development for the displaced homemaker program under section 116L.96; and
    (5) $5 in the special revenue fund is appropriated to the commissioner of human services for
the Minnesota Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative under section 256.742.
    (b) Of the $40 fee under subdivision 1b, paragraph (b), $25 must be retained by the county.
The local registrar must pay $15 to the commissioner of finance to be deposited as follows:
    (1) $5 as provided in paragraph (a), clauses (2) and (3); and
    (2) $10 in the special revenue fund is appropriated to the commissioner of employment and
economic development for the displaced homemaker program under section 116L.96.
    (c) The increase in the marriage license fee under paragraph (a) provided for in Laws 2004,
chapter 273, and disbursement of the increase in that fee to the special fund for the Minnesota
Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative under paragraph (a), clause (5), is
contingent upon the receipt of federal funding under United States Code, title 42, section 1315,
for purposes of the initiative.
    Subd. 2.[Repealed, 1978 c 699 s 17]
    Subd. 3.[Repealed, 1978 c 699 s 17]
    Subd. 4. Report. The local registrar of each county shall annually report to the Department
of Health the number of marriage licenses issued in the county for which the fee in subdivision
1b, paragraph (a), was paid and the number for which the fee in subdivision 1b, paragraph (b),
was paid.
History: (8569) RL s 3559; 1931 c 401 s 1; 1939 c 243 s 1; 1949 c 374 s 1; 1951 c 700
s 1; 1955 c 762 s 1; 1957 c 886 s 1; 1963 c 795 s 3; 1969 c 1145 s 3; 1973 c 725 s 73; 1975 c
52 s 3; 1977 c 441 s 2,3; 1978 c 674 s 42; 1978 c 730 s 2; 1978 c 772 s 7; 1981 c 360 art 2 s
43,44; 1983 c 262 art 1 s 6; 1983 c 312 art 3 s 3,4; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 54; 1Sp1985 c 9 art 2
s 95,96; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 75; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 187;
1989 c 335 art 4 s 98; 1992 c 464 art 1 s 47; 1995 c 257 art 4 s 11,12; 1997 c 162 art 2 s 26;
1997 c 203 art 5 s 37; art 6 s 34; art 10 s 3; 1998 c 254 art 2 s 59; 2000 c 311 art 3 s 4,5; 2000
c 444 art 2 s 14; 2001 c 7 s 84; 1Sp2001 c 10 art 2 s 81,82; 2003 c 112 art 2 s 50; 2003 c 128
art 12 s 3,4; 2003 c 130 s 12; 2004 c 206 s 52; 2004 c 273 s 4-6; 1Sp2005 c 1 art 4 s 114,115;
2007 c 146 art 7 s 2; 2007 c 148 art 2 s 71,72

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes