How to get married in Georgia

The steps to getting married in Georgia

1. Check that you can marry. You must both be at least 18, unless the exception for 17-year-olds below applies, and meet Georgia's other requirements, also listed below.
2. Choose a probate court. If at least one of you lives in Georgia, any county in Georgia can issue your license. If neither of you does, it must come from the county where the ceremony takes place.
3. Apply in person, both of you. Both of you must be present, and you both swear to a written application. Bring proof of age, proof of divorce (if applicable), and a method of payment.
4. Get your license. There's no waiting period, so it can be issued right away.
5. Hold your ceremony. Your officiant returns the signed license to the probate court within 30 days of the ceremony.
6. Receive your certificate. Your marriage certificate arrives by mail, typically within 30 days.

Where to apply for a Georgia marriage license

Marriage licenses are issued by county probate courts, and procedures vary by county. Only the probate judge or the judge's clerk issues a license, and each court sets its own hours. For the state's own overview, see Georgia.gov's marriage license page.

If at least one of you lives in Georgia

You can apply at the probate court in any county in Georgia, not just your home county. Georgia has no residency requirement.

If neither of you lives in Georgia

Your license must come from the probate court in the county where the ceremony takes place. Our guide for couples who live out of state covers that case step by step.

Starting online

Many Georgia counties let you start the application online, so check whether yours does. Either way, both of you must be present to get your license.

What a Georgia marriage license costs

Georgia law sets a $40 marriage license fee, and an additional $15 fee for issuing the license. Your probate court may charge other costs on top, so check its total before you go.

As one county's example, Henry County charges $76 for the license, or $36 with a premarital education certificate. Our Henry County marriage license guide has the details for that court.

Lowering the cost with premarital education

If you're both 18 or older and complete a qualifying premarital education course, Georgia's $40 license fee is removed, though other charges may still apply. The course must be at least six hours long, taken together, finished within the 12 months before you apply, and taught by a Georgia-licensed professional counselor, social worker, marriage and family therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist, or by active or retired clergy or their trained designee. You certify on the application that you've completed it and submit a signed, dated certificate of completion. Our premarital education discount guide explains how it works in Henry County.

Marriage requirements in Georgia: who can marry

You must both be at least 18. A 17-year-old may marry only if emancipated and other conditions are met, and no one under 17 may marry in Georgia. Each of you must also be of sound mind and have no living spouse from an undissolved marriage, and you must not be related to each other by blood or marriage within the degrees Georgia law prohibits.

If either of you was divorced, the divorce must be shown; the court won't assume it. Same-sex couples marry in Georgia on the same terms as every other couple, under the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). And Georgia ended new common-law marriages on January 1, 1997.

What to bring when you apply

You'll need proof of age, proof of divorce (if applicable), and a method of payment. Each court sets its own hours and procedures, so check yours, including whether it takes appointments, before you go.

Proof of age

Georgia law lists the documents a court may take as proof of age: a birth certificate, driver's license, baptismal certificate, birth certificate registration, selective service card, court record, passport, immigration papers, alien papers, citizenship papers, armed forces discharge papers, armed forces identification card, or hospital admission card showing your full name and date of birth. Check what your court accepts before you go.

Social Security numbers

The application records each applicant's Social Security number, so have both ready.

Your married name

You choose your married surname on the application itself, so decide before you go.

What you don't need

You don't need a blood test; Georgia stopped requiring one on July 1, 2003, though the state recommends a blood test for sickle cell disease. There's no waiting period. And you don't need to live in Georgia to marry here.

The ceremony

Who can marry you

Georgia law lets these people perform a marriage: a judge (including state and federal judges in Georgia), a magistrate, a city recorder, the Governor or a former Governor, or a minister or other person authorized by the rules of their religious society.

Returning the signed license

After the ceremony, your officiant returns the signed license to the probate court within 30 days of the ceremony. If a license is never returned, the affidavits of two witnesses to the ceremony can establish the marriage. Whether you need witnesses at the ceremony itself, and whether your license has an expiration date, are questions for the probate court that issues it.

After the wedding

Your certificate

Your marriage certificate arrives by mail, typically within 30 days.

Copies and records

The state office holds only marriages from June 1952 to August 1996; records from other years are held by the probate court in the county that issued the license. For a marriage in those years, the state charges a $10 search fee plus $5 for each extra copy.

Correcting a mistake

If your marriage record needs correcting, contact the probate court in the county where you married.

Changing your name after marriage

If you're taking a new name, update it with Social Security and on your Georgia driver's license or ID.

Social Security

Request a replacement Social Security card, online or by appointment; it arrives by mail in 5 to 10 business days. Social Security needs your marriage document as an original or a copy certified by the office that issued it; it can't accept photocopies. Social Security's document list has the details.

Your driver's license or ID

Bring the original or a certified copy of your marriage certificate or license, or a certified copy of the license application. The Georgia DDS document list has the details.