Tennessee Marriage License Requirements 2026: Fees, Course, Age

In Tennessee, the county clerk issues marriage licenses under Title 36, Chapter 3 of the Tennessee Code, and any county clerk in the state can issue yours. There is no waiting period, the license is valid for 30 days (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-103), and the price is set county by county around a $62.50 state add-on fee: the four large counties we checked charge $97.50 to $107.50, and a 4-hour premarital course takes $60.00 off.

For the rules in 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 Tennessee under Title 36, Chapter 3 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, with the fee rules in Tenn. Code Ann. 36-6-413, using the published procedures of the Shelby, Davidson, Knox and Hamilton county clerks. The official Tennessee Code is hosted behind a commercial service we could not open, so where this page describes a code section it relies on the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (UT CTAS) summary of the law, which paraphrases the statute rather than quoting it. The 2018 and 2019 changes to the age and officiant rules are quoted from the enrolled acts. This page does not cover divorce, ordering older marriage records, common-law marriage, or the rules of other states.

Where to Get a Marriage License in Tennessee

Apply at a county clerk's office. According to UT CTAS's summary of Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-103, "The license may be issued by the county clerk in any county in Tennessee, without regard to the residence of the parties or the county where the ceremony is to be performed."

That means a couple living in Memphis can buy the license in Nashville and marry in Knoxville. Knox County confirms its licenses are valid for ceremonies anywhere in Tennessee. There is no Tennessee residency requirement.

Both of you must apply in person. UT CTAS summarizes Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-104 as requiring that "Each of the parties must appear and make application in writing." The exceptions are applicants who are incarcerated, disabled, or deployed with the military, who may submit a notarized statement instead.

Several large counties let you start online, but you still finish at the counter:

• Davidson County (Nashville): licenses are issued only at the Howard Office Building, and the clerk requires an online application before you visit. Both parties must be present.
• Shelby County (Memphis): "both parties must appear for the issuance of the license." Shelby offers an online pre-application and suggests allowing 4 hours. It issues licenses Downtown at 150 Washington Ave and at Shelby East, 1075 Mullins Station Rd, Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 4:15.
• Knox County (Knoxville): offers an online pre-application.
• Hamilton County (Chattanooga): offers an online pre-application, and the clerk's office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 4:30. Mailed marriage records requests go to 625 Georgia Ave, Room 201.

We found no Tennessee county that issues a license entirely by video. Check your county clerk's page for current hours and appointment rules.

What to Bring

Both of you sign a sworn written application giving your names, ages and addresses (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-104, per UT CTAS). The application also asks for each applicant's Social Security number. If you have never been issued one, you are not required to provide one: in UT CTAS's words, "applicants who have not been issued a social security number are not required to provide one in order to obtain a marriage license" (Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 08-126).

The identification each county asks for differs:

• Shelby County: applicants 18 to 20 bring a certified birth certificate; applicants 21 and older bring a picture ID; 17-year-olds bring a certified birth certificate.
• Hamilton County: accepts a driver's license, state ID, certified birth certificate, military ID or passport. It also asks for both parents' full names (including the mother's maiden name), the parents' states of birth, the number of prior marriages, and the date the last marriage ended.
• Davidson County: asks for photo ID or a passport plus proof of your Social Security number, such as the card, a W-2 or a tax document.
• Knox County: asks for proof of birth (a certified birth certificate or government photo ID) and your Social Security number if one was issued.

Applicants under 18 also list the names and addresses of their parents, guardian or next of kin (UT CTAS).

How Much a Tennessee Marriage License Costs

Tennessee's price is built from several statutory pieces, and the largest is a state add-on. UT CTAS lists a $15.00 state privilege tax (Tenn. Code Ann. 67-4-411), a $5.00 tax kept by the county for schools (67-4-505), an optional county tax of up to $5.00 (67-4-502), and a $10.00 clerk's fee (8-21-701(1)).

On top of those, Tenn. Code Ann. 36-6-413 adds the fee most couples notice. As UT CTAS quotes it, "there is imposed an additional fee of $62.50 on the issuance of a marriage license. This $62.50 fee is in addition to all of the fees county clerks charge for issuance of a marriage license." Counties may also add records or copy fees.

Here is what four large counties post:

Hamilton County's prices include a $5.00 certified copy of the marriage certificate and a $5.00 archive and records fee. Hamilton adds a $2.25 notary fee for each parental consent affidavit for 17-year-old applicants. Davidson does not accept checks.

Knox County takes cash, checks and Visa, Mastercard or American Express, with a 2.5% card fee. Hamilton takes cash, major cards (with a processing fee), cashier's checks and certified checks. Fees change, and an older Hamilton fee still circulates online, so your county clerk's own page is the final word.

The premarital course discount

The course does not change when you can marry. It only lowers the fee: Tenn. Code Ann. 36-6-413 waives $60.00 of the $62.50 add-on.

To get the waiver, "both applicants must submit a Certificate of Completion showing that they have attended a course, together or separately, within one year of the date of the application" (as quoted by UT CTAS). The course must last at least 4 hours.

The instructor can be a psychologist, clinical social worker, licensed marital and family therapist, clinical pastoral therapist, professional counselor, psychological examiner, an official representative of a religious institution, or another instructor approved under judicial-district guidelines. The Administrative Office of the Courts developed the certificate form. Shelby, Hamilton and Davidson counties require it to be notarized, and Shelby says the instructor must sign it.

The Sevier County exception for out-of-state couples

UT CTAS describes one exception aimed at tourism. In a county that contains a "premier type tourist resort" municipality, which UT CTAS says is currently only Sevier County, non-resident applicants are exempt from the $60.00 without taking a course. They show an affidavit of non-residency or a valid out-of-state driver's license.

Waiting Period and How Long the License Lasts

Tennessee has no waiting period. Knox County states, "There is no waiting period to obtain the license," and Hamilton County says "No waiting period." You can marry the day the license is issued.

The one exception we found is local. Shelby County says that for 17-year-old applicants, "There is also a three-day waiting period for approvals." We did not find a statute behind it, so a 17-year-old applying elsewhere should ask that county clerk.

The license is valid for 30 days, and Knox County counts the day of issue as the first of them. UT CTAS summarizes Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-103: "A marriage license is valid for thirty (30) days from the date of issuance by the county clerk." Shelby County adds, "If the Marriage License is not used with 30 days, it is voided and a new license must be purchased."

Age Requirements

You can marry without anyone's consent at 18. Tennessee still allows one narrow route for 17-year-olds, and none for anyone younger.

The 2018 law that set these rules (2018 Pub. Ch. 1049) rewrote Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-105(a) to read:

"It is unlawful for any county clerk or deputy clerk in this state to issue a marriage license to any person where: (1) Either of the contracting parties is under seventeen (17) years of age; or (2) One (1) of the contracting parties is at least seventeen (17) years of age but less than eighteen (18) years of age and the other contracting party is at least four (4) years older than the minor contracting party."

In practice:

• Under 17: no license, with no exceptions. The same act repealed Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-107, the old section that let a court waive the age limits. Shelby County puts it this way: "No marriage license can be issued. No exceptions. Provisions allowing judges to waive the age restrictions have been repealed."
• 17: the other party must be less than four years older. Shelby describes this as the other party "cannot be more than four years (48 months) older."
• Consent for a 17-year-old: a parent, guardian or custodian must consent, either by appearing before the clerk or by a sworn, notarized affidavit (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-106). Consent is not required if the 17-year-old is emancipated by court order or by a prior marriage. The four-year age rule still applies.
• Information for minors: a minor applicant must receive a fact sheet from the Administrative Office of the Courts on rights and responsibilities, including legal aid and domestic violence and sexual assault hotline information.

The 2018 act also added Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-201, which makes a forced marriage void and allows $250,000 in liquidated damages. A marriage entered in violation of the age rules in 36-3-105 is voidable by a court, not automatically void, according to UT CTAS (citing Keith v. Pack).

For how a young person becomes emancipated, see Tennessee emancipation laws.

Who Cannot Marry in Tennessee

Tennessee bars marriage between close relatives (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-101). UT CTAS's summary covers a lineal ancestor or descendant; a descendant of either parent, meaning siblings, half-siblings, nieces and nephews; and "the lineal descendant of a grandparent (aunts, uncles, first cousins)." The bar also reaches a spouse's lineal descendants and the spouse of a parent or of a lineal descendant. First cousins cannot marry in Tennessee: a 2024 law (2024 Pub. Ch. 806) changed the statute's wording from the child of a grandparent to the lineal descendant of a grandparent, closing the gap that had allowed cousin marriages.

UT CTAS notes such marriages are void even if they were valid where they took place (Rhodes v. McAfee).

You cannot marry while still married to someone else (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-102). A bigamous marriage is void from the start, and bigamy is a Class A misdemeanor (Tenn. Code Ann. 39-15-301). Under UT CTAS's summary of Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-102, a first marriage is also regarded as dissolved for this purpose if either spouse has been absent five years and is not known to the other to be living.

We found no Tennessee waiting period to remarry after a divorce, though we did not search that question exhaustively. Same-sex couples marry on the same terms as everyone else: UT CTAS lists the state's older same-sex marriage provisions among those overridden by Obergefell v. Hodges and Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 17-29.

Blood Tests

No blood test or medical exam is required. Shelby County states, "Effective July 1, 1985, a blood test is no longer required," and Hamilton County says blood tests are no longer needed.

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-301(a) authorizes a long list of officiants. According to UT CTAS, it includes:

• ministers, preachers, pastors, priests, rabbis and other religious leaders over 18 who have the care of souls;
• judges and chancellors, including federal judges and administrative law judges, plus general sessions and municipal judges;
• county mayors, current and former members of county legislative bodies, municipal mayors and municipal legislative body members;
• the governor, current and former speakers, and members of the General Assembly who have filed notice with the Office of Vital Records;
• county clerks, and former clerks who were in office on or after July 1, 2014;
• law enforcement chaplains and notaries public;
• district attorneys general, who must opt in. Under 2024 Pub. Ch. 759, they "must opt in by filing notice of intention to solemnize the rite of matrimony with the office of vital records."

Clergy do not register with the state. According to UT CTAS, the county clerk "has neither the authority nor the duty" to examine an officiant's credentials (Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 97-139). Public officials such as a county mayor or county clerk may not charge a fee for performing a wedding, and judges may not take compensation.

Online ordination

Tennessee restricts online-ordained officiants. 2019 Pub. Ch. 415 added this sentence to the officiant statute, effective July 1, 2019: "Persons receiving online ordinations may not solemnize the rite of matrimony." The same act provides that marriages performed by any minister before July 1, 2019 are not invalidated.

UT CTAS also summarizes the statute as requiring that a minister's ordination or designation follow the customs of a church that provide for "a considered, deliberate and responsible act."

The rule has been challenged in federal court. In American Marriage Ministries v. Collins, No. 3:24-cv-247, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee ruled on September 17, 2025: "Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 47) is hereby GRANTED, and all claims against Defendants are hereby DISMISSED." The challenge did not block the rule, and the online-ordination restriction remains in the statute. An earlier case, Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse v. Nabors, ended in 2023 when the remaining district attorney defendants stipulated that they will not challenge the validity of marriages solemnized by Universal Life Church ministers. Those stipulations name that church and its ministers only.

American Marriage Ministries appealed. The appeal (No. 25-5943) was fully briefed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by June 2026, and we found no decision as of October 7, 2026. If your officiant was ordained online, ask the county clerk or a Tennessee lawyer before the wedding.

Witnesses and the ceremony itself

Tennessee law does not require witnesses, according to UT CTAS, even though the state's certificate form includes a witness line. No particular wording is required. The couple must declare, in the presence of the officiant, that they accept each other as spouses. We found no Tennessee provision that lets a couple marry themselves without an officiant.

Proxy and video ceremonies

Tennessee does not allow marriage by telephone. The Attorney General reads Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-302 to require the parties to appear personally, together, before the officiant (Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 90-71, as described by UT CTAS).

There is one narrow exception. UT CTAS reports: "The statute was amended in 2017 to authorize participation by video conference, but only for members of the armed forces who are stationed in another country in support of combat or another military operation." The service member must state that intent in the application.

Covenant Marriage Is Not Available

Tennessee does not offer covenant marriage. HB 315 / SB 737, the proposed Tennessee Covenant Marriage Act, would create it, but it has not passed.

According to the General Assembly's bill page, HB 315 was taken off notice for the House Judiciary Committee calendar on April 1, 2026, and the Senate Judiciary Committee deferred SB 737 to 2027. It is not law.

After the Ceremony

The officiant fills in the date and time of the marriage on the license, signs it, and must "return the license to the county clerk within three (3) days from the date of the marriage" (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-303, as quoted by UT CTAS). The state Certificate of Marriage goes back to the clerk within the same three days (Tenn. Code Ann. 68-3-401). A late return is a misdemeanor for the officiant, but it does not invalidate the marriage (Aghili v. Saadatnejadi, per UT CTAS).

Shelby County warns, "The marriage is not recognized by the State of Tennessee until the Shelby County Clerk's Office receives both of the forms and they are entered into the state's system." The clerk records the license and forwards it to the state Office of Vital Records.

Some counties hand you a certified copy at issuance. Shelby includes one in the license packet, and the Hamilton fee includes a $5.00 copy. For extra copies, Knox County charges $5.50 in person or $9.02 online. Hamilton charges $5 in person, $7.05 by mail and $8.05 online. Shelby charges $10 by mail, payable by check or money order.

To order a copy later, see Tennessee marriage and divorce records. Shelby County notes the certified copy is what you use "as proof of their marriage for legal documents, name changes, etc." For the name-change steps, see Tennessee name change laws.

Common Myths

• "We have to get the license in the county where we live or marry." No. Any Tennessee county clerk may issue it, and it works anywhere in Tennessee.
• "A judge can let a 16-year-old marry." Not since 2018. Under 17 is barred outright.
• "A Tennessee license costs about $30 to $40." Not in the counties we checked. Without a course certificate, Hamilton charges $107.50 and Knox and Shelby charge $97.50; with the course, those counties charge $37.50 to $45.
• "Anyone ordained online can marry us in Tennessee." The statute says persons receiving online ordinations may not solemnize marriages, and the 2025 federal challenge was dismissed (that ruling is on appeal).
• "Tennessee requires a blood test." Shelby County says it has not since July 1, 1985.

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about marriage licenses under Tennessee law (Title 36, Chapter 3 of the Tennessee Code Annotated), verified on October 7, 2026, and is not legal advice. Fees, office hours and county procedures change. For your specific situation, ask the county clerk where you will apply or a lawyer licensed in Tennessee.

Related

• Marriage license requirements by state
• Tennessee marriage and divorce records
• Tennessee name change laws
• Tennessee common-law marriage
• Kentucky marriage license requirements
• Georgia marriage license requirements

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I get a marriage license in Tennessee?

From the county clerk in any Tennessee county. The license does not have to come from the county where you live or marry, and it is good for a ceremony anywhere in Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-103, per UT CTAS).

How much is a marriage license in Tennessee?

It depends on the county. Hamilton County charges $107.50, Knox and Shelby $97.50, and Davidson $99.50 cash or $101.49 by card, before any premarital-course discount.

How much does the premarital course save in Tennessee?

$60.00. Tenn. Code Ann. 36-6-413 adds a $62.50 fee to every license and waives $60.00 of it when both applicants show a certificate for a course of at least 4 hours taken within one year before applying.

Is there a waiting period to get married in Tennessee?

No. Knox and Hamilton counties state there is no waiting period. Shelby County says it applies a three-day waiting period to approvals for 17-year-old applicants.

How long is a Tennessee marriage license good for?

30 days from the date of issuance (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-103). Shelby County says an unused license is voided after 30 days and a new one must be purchased.

Can a 17-year-old get married in Tennessee?

Only with parental, guardian or custodian consent (not needed if emancipated) and only if the other party is less than four years older. Anyone under 17 is barred, with no court waiver (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-105, as amended by 2018 Pub. Ch. 1049).

Can someone ordained online marry us in Tennessee?

Tennessee law says persons receiving online ordinations may not solemnize marriages (2019 Pub. Ch. 415). In September 2025 a federal court in the Eastern District of Tennessee dismissed a challenge to that rule. That ruling is on appeal to the Sixth Circuit (No. 25-5943), with no decision as of October 7, 2026.

Do you need witnesses to get married in Tennessee?

According to UT CTAS, Tennessee law does not require witnesses, even though the state certificate form has a line for them.

Can first cousins marry in Tennessee?

No. Tennessee bars marriage to a lineal descendant of a grandparent, which UT CTAS explains includes aunts, uncles and first cousins (Tenn. Code Ann. 36-3-101).