Marriage Ceremony Formalities in Vermont
At a glance
| Who may solemnize | Listed judges and judicial officers, justices of the peace, registered temporary officiants, and qualifying clergy (18 V.S.A. § 5144(a)). |
|---|---|
| Appointment or registration route | Secretary of State one-marriage temporary registration with form and $100 fee; certain out-of-state clergy need Probate Division authorization (§§ 5144(a)(2)(C), 5144a). |
| License and ceremony timing | Both parties sign license; one delivers it to authorized solemnizer within 60 days of issue; unsolemnized license then void (§§ 5131(b), 5145). |
| Required declaration or form | No fixed spoken words in §§ 5131(b), 5144–5145; solemnizer certifies occurrence and date on license form (§ 5131(b)). |
| Attending witnesses | No attending-witness number stated in chapter 105's ceremony and certificate provisions (§§ 5131, 5144–5145). |
| Religious or self-uniting route | Friends/Quakers, Christadelphian Ecclesia and Baha’i Faith may solemnize in their society's manner (§ 5144(b)). |
| Proxy or remote presence | §§ 5131(b) and 5144–5145 prescribe no separate proxy or remote-ceremony procedure. |
| Who signs the certificate | Both parties sign the license before delivery; solemnizer completes, signs and certifies occurrence and date, making it the certificate (§ 5131(b)). |
| Return recipient and deadline | Solemnizer returns certificate to issuing town clerk within ten days of marriage (§ 5131(c)). |
Requirements one by one
Who may solemnize
Vermont names Supreme Court Justices, Superior and Probate judges, assistant judges, justices of the peace, magistrates, Judicial Bureau hearing officers, and registered temporary officiants (18 V.S.A. § 5144(a)(1)). It also authorizes qualifying clergy (§ 5144(a)(2)). Clergy residing outside Vermont's adjacent region need special authorization from the Probate Division in the unit of the ceremony when their religious organization also lies outside Vermont (§ 5144(a)(2)(C)).
Temporary officiant
An individual registers with the Secretary of State using its form and a $100 fee (§ 5144a(a)). The resulting authority covers only the marriage named on the registration and expires with that license (§ 5144a(b)).
License and certificate
Both parties sign the license, and one gives it to an authorized solemnizer within 60 days of issue. If no marriage is solemnized within that period, the license becomes void (§ 5131(b)). The solemnizer must obtain the license before the ceremony (§ 5145), then fill out and sign the license section certifying the marriage's occurrence and date; it becomes the civil marriage certificate (§ 5131(b)).
Religious-society practice
Under § 5144(b), Friends or Quakers, the Christadelphian Ecclesia, and the Baha’i Faith may solemnize marriage in the manner used by those societies.
What trips people up
The solemnizer, rather than the couple, returns the completed certificate to the town clerk that issued the license within ten days after marriage (§ 5131(c)). The same chapter specifies no spoken formula, attending-witness number, or separate proxy or remote procedure in §§ 5131 and 5144–5145; these are distinct from any religious society's own ceremony practice.
Common questions
Can someone register for a single wedding? Yes. Section 5144a permits one-marriage temporary registration with the Secretary of State.
What if the ceremony is after 60 days? Under § 5131(b), a license becomes void if the marriage is not solemnized within 60 days of issue.
Who signs the record that goes back to town? The parties sign the license before delivery; after the ceremony, the solemnizer signs its certificate section (§ 5131(b)).
Statutes and sources
- 18 V.S.A. §§ 5131, 5144, 5144a and 5145. The source fields above provide verbatim excerpts, official section URLs and access dates.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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