Minnesota Marriage License Requirements 2026: $125 Fee, No Wait

In Minnesota, the local registrar in any county issues marriage licenses, and a license from one county works anywhere in the state (Minn. Stat. 517.07). There is no waiting period, the license is valid for six months, and the fee is set by statute: $125, or $50 if you completed at least 12 hours of premarital education (Minn. Stat. 517.08).

Both of you must be at least 18. A 2025 law, Laws 2025, chapter 35, also changed who can officiate: the person marrying you must be at least 21 and registered as a civil marriage officiant with a Minnesota county (Minn. Stat. 517.04). For other states, see our guide to marriage license requirements by state.

Information last verified on October 7, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers getting a marriage license and marrying in Minnesota under Chapter 517 of the Minnesota Statutes, as amended by Laws 2025, chapter 35, with procedures from the Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota and Anoka county pages. It does not cover divorce, ordering older marriage records, common-law marriage (see Minnesota common-law marriage), or the rules of other states.

Where to Get a Marriage License in Minnesota

Any county will do. Minn. Stat. 517.07 lets you apply to the local registrar in any Minnesota county, and the license is good statewide:

Minn. Stat. 517.07: "The civil marriage need not take place in the county where the license is obtained but must take place within the geographical borders of Minnesota."

Residency is not required. Hennepin County's page says: "You don't have to be a Minnesota resident." The limit runs the other way: Hennepin notes that a Minnesota license "can only be used to get married in Minnesota."

In person, remote or by mail

Before a license issues, the registrar examines both of you under oath. Laws 2025, chapter 35, article 11, section 8 broadened how that can happen. Under Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b, as amended, the registrar may take the oath:

• in person,
• by telephone,
• remotely by web conference, or
• through a verified statement signed by both of you.

The registrar may also accept applications signed by both of you by mail, fax or electronic filing. If one of you cannot appear, the one who does can complete the absent person's information, and the absent person verifies it in a notarized statement with proof of age.

Counties have not all built out every option, so check yours before you go:

• Hennepin County lists three routes: both of you in person, one in person with notarized documentation from the other, or fully remote by mail.
• Ramsey County: "Both parties must be present to apply for a marriage license. If one party cannot be present, they must provide a notarized Supplemental Marriage License Application and a completed, notarized Marriage License Application."
• Dakota County has you apply online and then reserve an appointment. Its page says: "In most cases, both parties must be present at the time of application, but there are exceptions."

What to Bring and What the Application Asks

Both of you must show proof of age (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subds. 1b and 1d). Any of these works:

• an original or certified birth certificate or birth record;
• a driver's license or other ID issued by a government entity or a school; or
• a school, immigration, naturalization, court or other government record showing your date of birth.

The application asks each of you for:

• full name, address, and county and state of residence;
• age and date of birth;
• prior marriages: your married name from the most recent marriage, and the date, place and court of the dissolution or annulment, or the date and place of your spouse's death;
• any relationship between the two of you;
• the mailing address where the registrar should send your certified marriage certificate;
• the full names each of you will use after the marriage; and
• your Social Security numbers. These are collected but not printed on the license, and an applicant without a number certifies that instead.

The 2025 amendments added dates of birth to the application and removed the line asking for each party's sex.

Changing your name on the application

Minnesota lets you choose your married names on the license application itself, and the license shows your names before and after the marriage (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1a). There is one statutory exception. If either of you has a felony conviction in Minnesota, another state or federal court, you cannot change your name through the marriage application; the court process in Minn. Stat. 259.13 applies instead. Using a different name in violation of that rule is a gross misdemeanor, and the application form must carry a notice saying so.

For the steps after the wedding, see name change after marriage and Minnesota name change laws.

How Much Does a Minnesota Marriage License Cost?

The fee is set by statute, not by each county:

Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b: "The local registrar shall collect from the applicant a fee of $125 for administering the oath, issuing, recording, and filing all papers required."

The reduced fee is $50 for couples who have completed at least 12 hours of premarital education. Laws 2025, chapter 35 raised both amounts; the earlier statute text read $115 and $40. The increase took effect July 1, 2025, the default date in Minn. Stat. 645.02 for an act with appropriations that sets no other date. If you see $115 or $40 on an older page, it is out of date.

Of the $125, the county keeps $25 and $100 goes to the state. The state's share is split among the general fund ($55), the Family Resiliency Partnership ($25), the Minnesota victims of crime account ($10), the Minnesota couples on the brink project ($5), parenting time centers ($3) and MN ENABL ($2) (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1c).

Counties can change payment options and copy fees, so the county page is the final word on those.

The premarital education discount

To get the $50 fee, the education must total at least 12 hours and include a premarital inventory and instruction in communication and conflict management skills (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b). The provider must be one of these:

• a licensed or ordained minister, or the minister's designee;
• a person authorized to solemnize civil marriages; or
• a licensed marriage and family therapist (Minn. Stat. 148B.33).

At application you hand the registrar a statement from the provider, on letterhead, signed, dated, and notarized or marked with a church seal. The statute prescribes its wording, the names must match your application exactly, and the educator keeps a copy for seven years.

One wrinkle: the "authorized to solemnize" category still points to Minn. Stat. 517.18, which the 2025 law repealed. If your educator qualifies only through that category, ask the registrar before you apply whether the statement will be accepted.

Is There a Waiting Period in Minnesota?

No. Minn. Stat. 517.08 sets no waiting period between applying and receiving the license. The LawHelpMN legal aid fact sheet puts it plainly: "There is no longer a waiting period for your marriage license."

How Long Is a Minnesota Marriage License Valid?

Six months. Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b: "The license shall be valid for a period of six months." Hennepin, Ramsey and Dakota counties all state the same period.

If illness or another extenuating circumstance keeps you from using the license within six months, you can surrender it to the registrar for cancellation. The registrar then issues a new license to the same couple without a fee.

Age Requirements: 18 With No Exceptions

Minn. Stat. 517.02: "A person who has attained the full age of 18 years is capable in law of contracting into a civil marriage, if otherwise competent." The section's history shows an amendment by Laws 2020, chapter 76, and the marriage statutes checked for this article provide no parental-consent or court route for anyone younger.

Minn. Stat. 517.03, subd. 1(a)(4) separately prohibits a civil marriage when both parties are under 18. Subdivision 1(b) addresses couples who try to marry elsewhere: a marriage of the kind barred by that clause that another state or country recognizes is void in Minnesota and against public policy, unless neither party was a Minnesota resident when it was entered into.

One other consent rule remains. A person with a developmental disability who is under the guardianship or conservatorship of the commissioner of human services needs the commissioner's written consent to marry (Minn. Stat. 517.03, subd. 2).

Who Cannot Marry in Minnesota

Minn. Stat. 517.03, subd. 1(a) prohibits a civil marriage:

• entered into before the dissolution of an earlier marriage of either party is final;
• between an ancestor and a descendant, or between brothers and sisters, whether by the half or whole blood or by adoption;
• between an uncle or aunt and a niece or nephew, or between first cousins, "whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood, except as to civil marriages permitted by the established customs of aboriginal cultures"; or
• when both parties are under 18.

Minnesota's marriage statutes are written in gender-neutral terms ("two persons" in Minn. Stat. 517.01 and 517.02), and Minn. Stat. 517.201 directs that terms such as husband and wife be read neutrally where needed to apply the law to same-sex spouses.

The sections checked for this article set no fixed waiting period after a divorce. The rule is the one above: you cannot marry until the earlier marriage's dissolution is final. For the divorce process, see Minnesota divorce laws.

Blood Tests and Medical Requirements

None. Minn. Stat. 517.07 through 517.10 contain no blood test or medical exam requirement, and the LawHelpMN legal aid fact sheet does not mention one.

Who Can Perform a Marriage in Minnesota: the 2025 Officiant Rules

This is the biggest recent change in Minnesota marriage law. Laws 2025, chapter 35, article 11, section 6 rewrote Minn. Stat. 517.04:

"Civil marriages may be solemnized throughout the state by an individual who has attained the age of 21 years and who registers as a civil marriage officiant with a local registrar in a county of this state."

The old list of officiants, which named judges of courts of record, retired judges, court administrators, and licensed or ordained ministers of any denomination, was struck. The same act (article 11, section 25) repealed Minn. Stat. 517.05 and 517.18. Under the current text, being a judge or an ordained minister does not by itself authorize someone to officiate; the officiant must be at least 21 and registered with a Minnesota county. The county where the officiant registered is endorsed and recorded on each marriage certificate.

These changes took effect July 1, 2025. Laws 2025, chapter 35 was signed on May 23, 2025, the amended sections carry no effective-date clause, and because the act appropriates money, Minn. Stat. 645.02 makes it effective on the July 1 after enactment. Anoka County's officiant page gives the same date.

How an officiant registers

Officiants file a notarized Certificate of Filing with a county registrar and pay a fee the county sets:

• Hennepin County: $45. Hennepin accepts electronic notarization and registers officiants "regardless of religion, title, or position." Nonresidents can register: "You don't have to be a Minnesota resident to file credentials and perform marriage ceremonies in Minnesota."
• Anoka County: $20, filed in person, through the online payment portal or by mail.

What about ministers ordained online? No official Minnesota page checked for this article addresses online ordination directly. Under the current text of 517.04, the test is age 21 plus county registration, not the type of ordination. If you have doubts, ask the registrar where your officiant plans to register.

Witnesses and the ceremony

Both of you must declare, in front of the officiant and two witnesses, that each takes the other as spouse. Minn. Stat. 517.09, subd. 1, as amended, requires the officiant to be "a person who is not the same individual as the applicant or the witness." The marriage certificate must be signed by at least two witnesses who are at least 16 years old (Minn. Stat. 517.10).

The 2025 repeal of 517.18 removed the section the old officiant list referred to for other recognized modes of solemnizing. That section had recognized Quaker marriages solemnized in a Friends meeting without an officiant, and ceremonies led by a Baha'i assembly chair, a person chosen by a Hindu or Muslim association, or an American Indian Mide' or holy person. With it repealed, the current text has no route around a registered officiant: Minn. Stat. 517.04 requires a registered officiant aged 21 or older, and Minn. Stat. 517.09 requires both of you to make your declaration before an authorized person who is neither of you nor a witness. A leader in one of those traditions can still officiate by registering with a county.

Chapter 517 does not mention proxy marriage. The ceremony section requires both of you to make the declaration in the officiant's presence; the remote options added in 2025 apply to the license application, not the ceremony.

After the Ceremony: Filing the Certificate and Getting a Copy

The officiant completes and signs the marriage certificate the registrar provides. It records both of your full names before and after the marriage, birth dates, county and state of residence, and the date and place of the ceremony, and carries your signatures in your married legal names plus those of at least two witnesses.

Under Minn. Stat. 517.10, the officiant must "file such certificate with the local registrar of the county in which the license was issued within five days after the ceremony." The registrar records it and sends a certified copy to the mailing address you gave on your application; Hennepin County returns the certified copy once the certificate is recorded.

Extra certified copies come from the county. Ramsey County charges $10 per copy. Our guide to Minnesota marriage and divorce records explains how to order copies later.

Common Misconceptions

• "Any ordained minister or judge can marry us." Not since the 2025 amendments. Minn. Stat. 517.04 now requires the officiant to be at least 21 and registered with a Minnesota county registrar.
• "Minnesota has a waiting period." It does not. Minn. Stat. 517.08 sets no waiting period, and the license is valid for six months.
• "The fee is $115, or $40 with a course." Those were the pre-2025 amounts. The statute now says $125 and $50.
• "You have to marry in the county that issued the license." Any Minnesota county's license works anywhere in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. 517.07).
• "You need to be a Minnesota resident." You do not, but the wedding itself must take place in Minnesota.

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about marriage licenses under Chapter 517 of the Minnesota Statutes, as amended by Laws 2025, chapter 35, and the published procedures of the Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota and Anoka county registrars, verified on October 7, 2026. It is not legal advice. Procedures change, so confirm with the county registrar where you will apply, and consult a lawyer licensed in Minnesota about your specific situation.

Related

• Marriage license requirements by state
• Minnesota marriage and divorce records
• Minnesota common-law marriage
• Minnesota name change laws
• Wisconsin marriage license requirements

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a marriage license in Minnesota?

$125, or $50 if you completed at least 12 hours of premarital education with a qualifying provider (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b). The fee is set by statute, so it is the same in every county.

Is there a waiting period to get married in Minnesota?

No. Minn. Stat. 517.08 sets no waiting period, and the license is valid for six months from issuance.

Can we apply for a Minnesota marriage license remotely?

The statute, as amended in 2025, lets registrars take the oath by telephone or web conference and accept applications by mail, fax or electronic filing (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b). Counties differ: Hennepin offers a fully remote mail option, while Ramsey requires notarized forms if one of you cannot appear.

Do you have to be a Minnesota resident to get married in Minnesota?

No. Any county registrar can issue the license, but the wedding must take place in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. 517.07).

Who can officiate a wedding in Minnesota?

Someone at least 21 who has registered as a civil marriage officiant with a local registrar in a Minnesota county (Minn. Stat. 517.04, as amended by Laws 2025, ch. 35). Registration costs $45 in Hennepin County and $20 in Anoka County.

How many witnesses do you need to get married in Minnesota?

Two. The certificate must be signed by at least two witnesses who are at least 16, and the officiant cannot be one of the applicants or a witness (Minn. Stat. 517.09, 517.10).

What is the minimum age to marry in Minnesota?

18 (Minn. Stat. 517.02). The Chapter 517 sections checked for this article contain no parental-consent or court route for younger applicants.

Can first cousins marry in Minnesota?

No. Minn. Stat. 517.03 prohibits marriage between first cousins, except civil marriages permitted by the established customs of aboriginal cultures.

What happens if we do not use our Minnesota marriage license within six months?

It expires. If illness or another extenuating circumstance prevented you from using it, you can surrender it to the registrar and get a new license without a fee (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1b).

How long does the officiant have to file the marriage certificate in Minnesota?

Five days after the ceremony, with the registrar of the county that issued the license (Minn. Stat. 517.10).

Can I change my last name on my Minnesota marriage license application?

Yes. The application asks for the names each of you will use after the marriage (Minn. Stat. 517.08, subd. 1a). A person with a felony conviction must use the court process in Minn. Stat. 259.13 instead.