Can I get my License in Blue Hill?
- Both parties must be 18 years of age or older.
- You must be planning your wedding in Maine. Maine-issued Marriage Licenses are valid in any town in Maine, but nowhere outside of the state. If you are planning your ceremony elsewhere, you will need to contact that jurisdiction to obtain your Marriage License.
- If neither party is a resident of Maine, but you are coming here for your ceremony, you may obtain your License in any town in Maine, including Blue Hill.
- If only one party is a resident of Maine, you will need to obtain your License from the town in which that party lives.
- If both parties live in Maine, but in different towns, you may get your License from either of your towns of residence. You can both go to the same town office together; you do not need to each visit your own town office separately.
- If both parties live in the same town in Maine, you will need to visit that town office.
What will I need to bring?
- If you are a US citizen, you will need to know your Social Security Number, though we do not need to see your Social Security Card. (Step 1)
- We will need to see both parties’ unexpired photo IDs. (Step 2)
- If either party has been married before, we will need to see certified copies of your most recent spouse’s death certificate, divorce decree, or annulment. (Step 2)
- If you are first cousins, we will check your Certificate of Genetic Counseling from a physician. (Step 2)
- We will need to collect $40 for the Marriage License. (Step 2)
- If you would like to purchase copies of your Marriage Certificate, we will need to collect $15 for the first copy and $6 for any additional copies. (Step 4)
How do I get a marriage license?
You will need to fill out and turn in your Intention of Marriage Application (VS-2A) to the Town Clerk. You may print and mail them in or come to our office to get a copy of the form, but please note that both parties’ signatures must be witnessed, either by a clerk in our office or any Notary Public.
Please also note that the Marriage License will only be valid for 90 days after the Intentions are signed, so be careful not to do so too early. We recommend filing on the later side so that if the ceremony needs to be postponed, the same License can be used, and you will not need to repeat this whole process.
It is very important to fill out the “Proposed New Name After this Marriage” section exactly as you want your name to appear going forward; do not leave out or abbreviate any names that you do not want to lose. For example, if you write “John H. Doe,” as soon as the marriage is solemnized, your legal middle name will become “H.” Both parties can change any and all of their names, not just their last name.
Once we receive your signed Intentions (you do not need to return the instruction sheet), we have a 24-business hour turnaround period to generate the License from that information. You may come back on our next business day to complete step two. You are welcome to call first to confirm that it is ready, and we might call you if we finish earlier than expected. If you have mailed in your Intentions early, that’s fine – you can come in and complete step two when you’re in the area.
Once we have finished generating your License, you may come into the town office at any time. It will make things a lot simpler if both parties are able to come in at the same time, though that is not mandatory. If you need to come in separately, be prepared to make multiple alternating trips.
When you come in, we will print working copies of your License and Certificate and ask both parties to proofread both documents for data-entry errors. Once any corrections have been made, we will check your IDs and evidence of dissolution of any previous marriages, collect $40 from you, and print your actual Marriage License. If you are first cousins, we will also check your Certificate of Genetic Counseling at this point. Both parties will need to sign the License in front of the Clerk, and then it is yours to give to your officiant.
The following people are authorized to solemnize marriages in Maine:
– A justice or judge, if a Maine resident
– A lawyer admitted to the Maine Bar, if a Maine resident
– A Maine licensed marriage officiant, if a Maine resident
– An ordained minister of the gospel, including online ordinations, regardless of residency
– A cleric engaged in the service of the religious body to which the cleric belongs, regardless of residency
– A person licensed to preach by an association of ministers, religious seminary, or ecclesiastical body, regardless of residency
– A non-Maine resident who is able to officiate marriages in their home jurisdiction and has obtained a temporary registration certificate from the Maine CDC vital records office
Please note that Maine does not have Justices of the Peace. Maine Notaries Public are not inherently able to solemnize marriages, but most are also licensed marriage officiants. You will also need to have two witnesses, other than the officiant, present at the ceremony. They do not need to be 18, but they do need to be able to understand what is happening.
The officiant will need to fill out the bottom of the License after the ceremony, except for the very bottom lines marked for the Filing Official. Make sure that the witnesses sign as well. The License must then be returned to the town office where you got it, either by the officiant or the parties, in person or by mail, within 15 days.
Q: Can we elope in the town hall?
A: Call us first to check the specific day. Some staff members are licensed marriage officiants, while others are not. We will only be able to solemnize the marriage for you if a marriage officiant is present that day who was not also the issuing official of your License. Please also bring your own two witnesses. There is no extra cost for us to solemnize the marriage for you.
Q: We got into a fight after the ceremony and no longer want to be married. Can we simply not hand the License back in?
A: No! The marriage is official and binding from the moment the officiant says so during the ceremony. The License is only a record that it happened, and if you don’t return that record to us, we can’t generate any Certificates to prove it. That, in turn, makes it much more difficult to get an annulment or divorce. Regardless of how well the ceremony goes, please make sure to turn the completed License in as soon as possible!
Q: What if our License expires before we can use it?
A: You will need to repeat this whole process, beginning with filing Intentions, and pay another $40; that’s why we recommend waiting until fairly close to your intended wedding date to file the Intentions. Please note that the expiration date on the License is different from the “Proposed Date of Marriage” that you put on your Intentions; the latter date is non-binding, and you do not need to file anything additional if you get married on a different date, as long as the expiration date has not passed.
Once we get your completed License back after the ceremony, it takes us about 5-10 minutes to do the data entry and get it registered with the State. At that point, or any point thereafter, we will be able to issue Marriage Certificates, which serve as legal proof of your marriage. If you got married in a town other than Blue Hill, that town office will also be able to issue them. We will need you to fill out this Vital Records Request form, we’ll check your ID again if it’s a new day, and we’ll collect $15 for the first copy and $6 per additional copy. This step is not mandatory, but various institutions, like banks and insurance companies, might require proof of marriage for certain actions, and if either party changed their name, the Certificate also serves as proof of name change for new IDs. For more information about ordering copies of vital records, please see this page.