North Carolina-Outer Banks

Currituck County Ordained Minister

My fiance and I are hoping to have his sister become ordained to marry us. I need help translating this from the Currituck County Register of Deeds website:

Q. Who can perform a marriage ceremony?
A. Any ordained minister with a church can perform a marriage ceremony. The officiant does not need a special license to perform a ceremony in North Carolina. Magistrates can also perform marriage ceremonies. You can reach a Currituck County magistrate by calling 252-232-3404.

I emailed the office for more information, here is the response I was given:

Under North Carolina law (G.S. 51-1) a persons may marry only in the presence of an ordained minister of any religious denomination, a minister authorized by a church, or a magistrate.  There is a North Carolina Supreme Court case holding that a “mail order” minister is not qualified under North Carolina law to perform a valid marriage ceremony.

If anyone has any information or experience with getting married in Currituck County, please let me know. Thank you!

Re: Currituck County Ordained Minister

  • We had a bride married in 2012 who used her brother. I suggest searching through posts using the search function to find her suggestions.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Try googling it. Lots of info. There is actually a guy that was charged with bigomy but the charges were dropped when he proved his first marriage was performed by a "mail order" minister and therefore not legal & binding!
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