CA and TX, marriage license question?!

knottie49baf2d15abc00df · January 2020

Can I get documents done in CA but have ceremony/reception in TX?

MobKaz · January 2020

In most states, you need to obtain the license in the county in which you plan to marry. Many licenses also have time constraints. For example, in Chicago, I believe you have 60 days in which to marry once you obtain your license. I believe you must both apply for the license together. Contact the county clerk office in the county in which you are having your ceremony.

Your reception can be anywhere.

short+sassy · January 2020

I can't answer your question specifically. Your best bet is to contact the county clerk's office. Plus they can also tell you the specific paperwork you all need to bring.

My H and I live in Louisiana, but got married in CA. We actually contacted the clerk's office in our parish (county) in Louisiana. They told us it didn't matter. We could get our license in either Louisiana or CA. We decided to wait until we got to CA, but contacted that county also to make sure it was okay on that end (it was). At least in CA, we did both have to apply for the license together.

In retrospect, I wish we had gotten our license where we lived. CA never sent us the original marriage certificate. So then it became a real PITA to get it, because everything had to be done through the mail. And since we couldn't request it, in person. We would have to get the forms they needed notarized.

As an aside, we got married 8 years ago and we still haven't done that, lol. The copy of the marriage certificate, which we do have, has been fine for everything...unless you want to legally change your last name. The Social Security Administration requires the original.

NavyBlue143 · January 2020

You would want to check with your home county. Most states have reciprocal validity, but you always want to be sure. Texas recognizes out of state licenses, for instance, and you can get it from one county and marry in another, but you have to file the completed license in the county you got it from.

MobKaz · January 2020

short+sassy said:

I can't answer your question specifically. Your best bet is to contact the county clerk's office. Plus they can also tell you the specific paperwork you all need to bring.

My H and I live in Louisiana, but got married in CA. We actually contacted the clerk's office in our parish (county) in Louisiana. They told us it didn't matter. We could get our license in either Louisiana or CA. We decided to wait until we got to CA, but contacted that county also to make sure it was okay on that end (it was). At least in CA, we did both have to apply for the license together.

In retrospect, I wish we had gotten our license where we lived. CA never sent us the original marriage certificate. So then it became a real PITA to get it, because everything had to be done through the mail. And since we couldn't request it, in person. We would have to get the forms they needed notarized.

As an aside, we got married 8 years ago and we still haven't done that, lol. The copy of the marriage certificate, which we do have, has been fine for everything...unless you want to legally change your last name. The Social Security Administration requires the original.

If you are applying for the new Real ID, my state (IL) absolutely required the original marriage license to prove name change (unless you already have a passport).

short+sassy · January 2020

MobKaz said:

short+sassy said:

I can't answer your question specifically. Your best bet is to contact the county clerk's office. Plus they can also tell you the specific paperwork you all need to bring.

My H and I live in Louisiana, but got married in CA. We actually contacted the clerk's office in our parish (county) in Louisiana. They told us it didn't matter. We could get our license in either Louisiana or CA. We decided to wait until we got to CA, but contacted that county also to make sure it was okay on that end (it was). At least in CA, we did both have to apply for the license together.

In retrospect, I wish we had gotten our license where we lived. CA never sent us the original marriage certificate. So then it became a real PITA to get it, because everything had to be done through the mail. And since we couldn't request it, in person. We would have to get the forms they needed notarized.

As an aside, we got married 8 years ago and we still haven't done that, lol. The copy of the marriage certificate, which we do have, has been fine for everything...unless you want to legally change your last name. The Social Security Administration requires the original.

If you are applying for the new Real ID, my state (IL) absolutely required the original marriage license to prove name change (unless you already have a passport).

We don't have the Real IDs in Louisiana yet. Knowing the pace we go, that will probably happen 50 years from now, lol.

I do need the original for my driver's license also. But they need the change done at Social Security first, anyway. Actually it was the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles who told me the process.

I went in there with the copy of my marriage certificate to change my license. And they set me straight, lol. SSA first and that government entity would need my original. Then they suggested I wait 1-2 days to make sure whatever back systems Louisiana had got me updated from SSA. Then I needed to return with my current license and original marriage certificate.

I originally wanted to change my last name to my husband's. But it wasn't a major preference and I decided it was more hassle than it was worth. My passport is my maiden name. I own property in my maiden name. I own a business in my maiden name. So I use his last name socially, but never changed it legally and probably won't.

MobKaz · January 2020

@short+sassy, If I knew now what I didn't back then.......keep your maiden name!!! I have an original SS card IN MY MARRIED name, which required my marriage certificate, but bringing that along was not sufficient! EVERY single piece of identifying information is in my married name because I have been married for almost 42 years! But the birth certificate must match the current name, or show proof of how that name was changed. It is INSANE if you have married more than once! Bureaucracy is so infuriating!!! I also am aware that I can obtain a copy via mail, but I am waaaaay to paranoid to send that amount of identity information through the mail or a 3rd party "trusted" vendor. LOL

I guess I thought I was over it, but apparently not :-D Thanks for the incidental vent!

CA and TX, marriage license question?!

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