Marriage Ceremony Formalities in California

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Who may solemnize

California Family Code § 400 lists adult religious officials; state and federal judicial officers; specified current or former elected officials; and city clerks in the described circumstances. Currently serving elected officials in § 400(c) cannot accept compensation for solemnizing a marriage, and that route excludes a person removed from office for an offense or convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, or fraud. The county clerk is the civil-marriage commissioner and may appoint deputy commissioners. Family Code § 402 also lets a county license a qualifying official of a registered nonprofit religious institution to marry affiliated persons without a fee. (§§ 400–402.)

License and ceremony timing

Family Code § 421 requires the solemnizer to see the license before the ceremony. The ordinary license lasts 90 days after issuance under § 356; a confidential license lasts the same period under § 504. A solemnizer who has reason to doubt facts on the ordinary license must first be satisfied of their correctness and may examine the parties and witnesses under oath.

Declaration and presence

No particular ceremony form is prescribed. For the ordinary ceremony, the parties must declare in the physical presence of the solemnizer and necessary witnesses that they take each other as spouses. Section 420(b) provides a narrow proxy route for an Armed Forces member stationed overseas in a conflict or war who cannot attend licensing and solemnization: an attorney in fact must bring the original, properly executed power of attorney and appear with the other party at the county clerk's office. A facsimile or other copy will not do. (§ 420.)

Religious society without clergy

For a religious society or denomination without clergy for solemnizing marriage, § 307 supplies a separate non-clergy route. The parties sign and endorse the prescribed form with the ceremony's fact, time, and place; two witnesses' printed names, signatures, and mailing addresses; and the society and its custom. The endorsed License and Certificate of Non-Clergy Marriage goes to the issuing county recorder within ten days. This route differs from a solemnizer's ordinary certificate. (§ 307.)

Witnesses and certificate signatures

For an ordinary license, § 422 requires the solemnizer to sign and enter the date, place, official position or religious denomination, and their printed name and mailing address. The form records at least one and no more than two witnesses' printed names, signatures, and mailing addresses. Family Code § 359 says the solemnizer causes those witness entries to be made. The separate non-clergy form requires two witness signatures plus the parties' endorsements. For a confidential license, § 506 assigns completion of the solemnization section to the solemnizer. (§§ 307, 359, 422, 506.)

Return recipient and deadline

For an ordinary license, Family Code § 423 requires the solemnizer to return the endorsed license to the recorder of the issuing county within ten days. The non-clergy form goes to that recorder on the same clock. A confidential license instead goes to the clerk of the issuing county within ten days. Section 359 defines "returned" to include in-person presentation or a postmark before the deadline. (§§ 307, 359, 423, 506.)

What trips people up

The ordinary certificate calls for one or two witness signatures, while the no-clergy religious-society form names two witnesses. Confidential licenses have their own solemnization and return provision; the ordinary recorder route should not be copied onto them. (§§ 307, 422, 506.)

Common questions

Can a county clerk deputize someone to conduct a ceremony? Yes. The clerk is the commissioner of civil marriages and may appoint deputy commissioners to solemnize marriages under the commissioner's direction. (§ 401.)

Who may perform a confidential-license ceremony? Family Code § 500 uses the same authorized solemnizers listed in the ordinary ceremony chapter. The license is then completed and returned under the confidential-license rule in § 506.

Statutes and sources

The quoted sections came from the California Legislative Counsel's current official code publication, checked October 4, 2026. Individual official section pages are linked for readers.