517.001 DEFINITION. As used in this chapter, “local registrar” means an individual designated by the county board of commissioners to register civil marriages. History: 2004 c 273 s 2; 2013 c 74 s 9; 2013 c 108 art 12 s 99
517.01 CIVIL MARRIAGE CONTRACT. A civil marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between two persons, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential. A lawful civil marriage may be contracted only when a license has been obtained as provided by law […]
517.02 PERSONS CAPABLE OF CONTRACTING. A person who has attained the full age of 18 years is capable in law of contracting into a civil marriage, if otherwise competent. History: (8563) RL s 3553; 1927 c 166; 1949 c 374 s 1; 1963 c 795 s 1; 1967 c 506 s 1; 1973 c 725 […]
517.03 PROHIBITED CIVIL MARRIAGES. Subdivision 1. General. (a) The following civil marriages are prohibited: (1) a civil marriage entered into before the dissolution of an earlier civil marriage of one of the parties becomes final, as provided in section 518.145 or by the law of the jurisdiction where the dissolution was granted; (2) a civil […]
517.04 PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO PERFORM CIVIL MARRIAGES. Civil marriages may be solemnized throughout the state by an individual who has attained the age of 21 years and is a judge of a court of record, a retired judge of a court of record, a court administrator, a retired court administrator with the approval of the […]
517.041 POWER TO APPOINT COURT COMMISSIONER; DUTY. The Third Judicial District may appoint as court commissioner for Fillmore and Olmsted Counties respectively a person who was formerly employed by those counties as a court commissioner. The sole duty of an appointed court commissioner is to solemnize civil marriages. History: 1982 c 499 s 1; 1983 […]
517.05 CREDENTIALS OF MINISTER. Ministers of any religious denomination, before they are authorized to solemnize a civil marriage, shall file a copy of their credentials of license or ordination or, if their religious denomination does not issue credentials, authority from the minister’s spiritual assembly, with the local registrar of a county in this state, who […]
517.06 PARTIES EXAMINED. Every person authorized by law to perform the civil marriage ceremony, before solemnizing a civil marriage, may examine the parties on oath, which oath the person is authorized to administer, as to the legality of the intended civil marriage. No person shall solemnize a civil marriage unless satisfied that there is no […]
517.07 LICENSE. Before any persons are joined in civil marriage in Minnesota, a license shall be obtained from the local registrar of any county within Minnesota. 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. History: (8568) RL s […]
517.08 APPLICATION FOR LICENSE. Subdivision 1. [Renumbered subds 1a and 1b] Subd. 1a. Form. Application for a civil marriage license shall be made by both of the parties upon a form provided for the purpose and shall contain the following information: (1) the full names of the parties and the sex of each party; (2) […]
517.09 SOLEMNIZATION. Subdivision 1. General. No particular form is required to solemnize a civil marriage, except: the parties shall declare in the presence of a person authorized to solemnize civil marriages and two attending witnesses that each takes the other as husband, wife, or spouse; or the civil marriage shall be solemnized in a manner […]
517.10 CERTIFICATE; WITNESSES. The person solemnizing a civil marriage shall prepare and sign a certificate. The certificate shall contain the full names of the parties before and after the civil marriage, the birth dates of the parties, and county and state of residences of the parties and the date and place of the civil marriage. […]
517.101 CERTIFIED COPIES OF CIVIL MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. Within ten days of receipt of the certificate and after recording the certificate the local registrar shall prepare a certified copy of the certificate to be mailed to the married parties. History: 1977 c 441 s 4; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1991 […]
517.13 PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO FILE CERTIFICATE. Every person solemnizing a civil marriage who neglects to file a certificate with the local registrar within the time set forth in section 517.10 shall forfeit a sum not exceeding $100, and every local registrar who neglects to record a certificate shall forfeit a like sum. History: (8574) […]
517.14 ILLEGAL CIVIL MARRIAGE; FALSE CERTIFICATE; PENALTY. A person authorized by law to solemnize civil marriages who knowingly solemnizes a civil marriage contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or knowing of any legal impediment to the proposed civil marriage, or who willfully makes a false certificate of any civil marriage or pretended civil marriage […]
517.15 UNAUTHORIZED PERSON PERFORMING CEREMONY. A person who knowingly undertakes to solemnize a civil marriage, without lawful authority to do so, is guilty of a misdemeanor. History: (8576) RL s 3565; 1978 c 772 s 12; 1986 c 444; 2013 c 74 s 9
517.16 IMMATERIAL IRREGULARITY OF OFFICIATING PERSON DOES NOT VOID. A civil marriage solemnized before a person professing to be lawfully authorized to do so shall not be adjudged to be void, nor shall its validity be in any way affected, on account of a want of jurisdiction or authority in the supposed officer or person, […]
517.18 CIVIL MARRIAGE SOLEMNIZATION. Subdivision 1. Friends or Quakers. All civil marriages solemnized among the people called Friends or Quakers, in the form heretofore practiced and in use in their meetings, shall be valid and not affected by any of the foregoing provisions. The clerk of the meeting in which such civil marriage is solemnized, […]
517.20 APPLICATION. Except as provided in section 517.03, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), all marriages contracted within this state prior to March 1, 1979 or outside this state that were valid at the time of the contract or subsequently validated by the laws of the place in which they were contracted or by the domicile of […]
517.201 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW; RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. Subdivision 1. Religious freedom; Human Rights Act. (a) This chapter does not alter or affect the protections or exemptions provided in chapter 363A for a religious association, educational institution, business, labor organization, place of public accommodation, employer, or other person. (b) This chapter must not be construed […]
