Military Brides

Well this could be a disaster. Marriage license crisis.

I just so happened to look up the requirements for a marriage license in my county last night. 60 days. We are 111 days out. He is coming home on leave for a couple days this Wednesday (he is stationed at Great Lakes) and we'll apply then for it. Problem is, he won't be home until the wedding, he's only allowed to take the weekend of. Total bummer. So there isn't anyway to apply later. Is there such thing as a license renewal? Our county clearly states on the websites free and expedited service for military so I am going to call 1st thing tomorrow. I just wanted to see if this was/is an issue for anybody else.

Re: Well this could be a disaster. Marriage license crisis.

  • billman2billman2 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Have him call and explain he is in the military and will not be home in the correct time frame and ask if there is anything else they can do.  DH did this andwhere we got married was very willing to work with us. OUr town had to be less than 30 days and more than 14.  He went about 45 days ahead of time to fill out hte paperwork and they jsut saved it until it was 30 days to process it and do it on their end.  I've had friends that have had similar problems and the town would let their FI's go fill out the forms, but the ladies(or whoever wasn't in the military) had to wait until the proper time frame.
  • edited December 2011
    Do check, I called the countywhere we are getting married and were told that the waiting period would be waived and we could get the license the same day with proof of his ad status.
  • CARLY78CARLY78 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    When we applied for our license, the waiting period was waived due to my DH being military. Also, when you need the certified copies of your license see if they give them to you for free as well. They usually charge you to make those copies and they waived the fees for us b/c he's military. It was great b/c we needed a lot of copies due to me being a nurse. Hope that helps you out!
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  • PetrilloFamPetrilloFam member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Some places will waive waiting periods if you can provide proof of his active status.  Look sit up on the township website or call first thing.  Usually they are happy to work with military families, and this might not be nearly the disaster you think.  :)
  • edited December 2011

    I know in my county you can get the application and have it notarized and dated but you don't have to turn it in. This is in the case if one party just can not make it to the county auditors office to get the application. I would call and explain the situation and see what they say. When he is home for good could you two make it to the place to get the license on his lunch break? How long before the wedding date do you have to get the license (in WA we have a 3 day wait time)?

    Megan

  • edited December 2011
    The county we're getting married in states that they can waive the 3 day waiting period before the license becomes valid in extenuating circumstances. I already planned for this though so I'm not worried about it.
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  • meltoinemeltoine member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment
    edited December 2011
    How did it turn out? Did you call your municipality?
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  • heathyr21heathyr21 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    UGH!! Well I called the local courthouse and went to another and they both said they would expidite the processing for free...and that's about it. No other exceptions for military!!! They wouldn't post date it and there is no such thing as a renewal, just a whole new license, where we both need to be present. Their only advice; come in August 20th before 3:45pm so I'd have it in time for our rehearsal that night. Lovely. I'm going to be stressing about this until I have it in my hands.
  • edited December 2011
    I had the same problem. My FI is stationed in Groton, CT and I'm in Virginia. He wont be able to get here until late Friday, the day before the wedding. We went to a courthouse close to a base and they said I could come up there, fill out the paperwork and mail it to him. He signed it, had it notarized, then mailed it back. I picked up my marriage license the other day!
    A lot of courthouses won't make an exception for military, so check near bases!
  • heathyr21heathyr21 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_military-brides_well-this-could-disaster-marriage-license-crisis?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:13Discussion:8437aa85-b4c3-4383-8b44-bdcb6c58599bPost:8bc77fd2-c602-4c36-ad1e-a010916818e4">Re: Well this could be a disaster. Marriage license crisis.</a>:
    [QUOTE]I had the same problem. My FI is stationed in Groton, CT and I'm in Virginia. He wont be able to get here until late Friday, the day before the wedding. We went to a courthouse close to a base and they said I could come up there, fill out the paperwork and mail it to him. He signed it, had it notarized, then mailed it back. I picked up my marriage license the other day! A lot of courthouses won't make an exception for military, so check near bases!
    Posted by xbutterflykizzsx[/QUOTE]

    Thanks for that advice! That could be another option, I'm defiantly going to look into!
  • edited December 2011
    In NJ the requirement is it's good for 30 days. However, these 30 days begin from when you pick it up. So if I applied in June I could wait until November and then pick it up and it would be good for 30 days from that point, maybe thats the 60 days they are talking about.
  • edited December 2011
    Another possiblity, if all else fails is to just do you ceremony and let the officiant know you will need to meet up to sign the papers a few days after the wedding because of the waiting period. This happens a lot especially in cases where someone forgets the marriage license the day of. At the end of the day you will still be married.
  • JoeAandEmilyKJoeAandEmilyK member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    One other option you might want to check out: call your county supervisor (or whatever they are called in your county) and explain the situation to them.  Elected officials LOVE to help their constituents with problems like this, and love helping military constituents even more.  Usually, elected officials hold a good amount of sway over county offices and may be able to get the rules bent a little bit.  Good luck!
  • Greta46Greta46 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Really random - but also check to see if the location you are getting married in is the same county.  If it is not, then the rules might be different there.

    Also, if you are getting married on a milatary base, the Chaplain typically has different rules that he follows that takes into consideration a person being in the military
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