Marriage License Requirements That Vary by State: Age, Waiting Periods, Validity

The core marriage license process is similar nationwide, but four things are set by state law and can differ meaningfully depending on where your ceremony takes place: minimum age, waiting periods, how long the license stays valid, and whether a blood test is required. Here’s how each one actually varies.

Minimum age to marry

In every state, 18 is the age at which you can marry without any special court involvement or parental consent. Below 18, the rules diverge sharply by state: some states set a hard minimum age (commonly 16 or 17) below which marriage isn’t permitted under any circumstance; others allow marriage under 18 only with a combination of parental consent and/or judicial approval; and a growing number of states have eliminated marriage under 18 entirely in recent years as part of a nationwide push to close child-marriage loopholes. If either applicant is under 18, check your specific state’s current rules directly with the county clerk — this is an area where state law has been changing quickly.

Waiting periods

Most states have no waiting period at all — you can marry the same day your license is issued. A minority of states require a mandatory gap between issuance and ceremony, most commonly three days, though it ranges from as little as 24 hours (Maryland’s 48-hour period lands close to this) up to six days in Wisconsin. States that have historically applied a waiting period include Alaska, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin, with some (like Florida) waiving or shortening it if both applicants complete a state-approved premarital education course. Because this is state law, it applies the same way in every county within that state.

How long the license stays valid

Once issued, a license is only good for a limited window before it expires unused. This also varies by state — some states give you as little as 30 days, many give 60 days, and others extend to 90 days or, in a few cases, up to a year. States commonly associated with a roughly 60-day validity window include Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia — but treat this as a starting point, not a guarantee, since individual counties and recent law changes can shift the exact number. Your specific county guide lists the validity period that applies to you.

Blood tests

No U.S. state currently requires a blood test as a general condition of getting a marriage license. Montana, the last state with a blanket requirement, repealed it in 2019. This is a common point of outdated advice — older wedding-planning articles and even some relatives may mention it, but it hasn’t been a nationwide requirement in years. (New York has a narrow, largely inactive statute referencing sickle cell testing for some applicants, with religious exemptions, that doesn’t affect marriage eligibility.)

What’s set by the county instead

Fee amount, office hours, whether you need an appointment, whether an online pre-application is offered, and accepted payment methods are all decided county by county, not by the state. That’s the layer our individual county guides cover — use the state-level facts here as the backdrop, and check your specific county page for everything else.

Frequently asked questions