# Need help about marriage license ASAP



## j-lor (Dec 27, 2012)

Hello me and my wife have been married since 2006 and never applied for marriage license. So now we are ready but i was wondering would there be any fees or any trouble we would encounter if we applied now. Also we never done are taxes as married always single. Thanks for any infos


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## Starstarfish (Apr 19, 2012)

If you never applied for a marriage license, for all intents and purposes for your state - you are likely not "legally" married, unless common law takes effect in six years. 

If you were married in a religious ceremony, the chaplain/priest/minister still had to fill out official marriage license paperwork and send it in during a certain time frame for the state to consider you legally married. I'm kind of surprised they didn't mention that to you at the time. 

So - you can apply for a license now, but - you'll still have to have someone officiate that a wedding took place, or you'll need to go the justice of the peace route. I'm uncertain if they can say it took place before or they'll have to do so again. 

Yes, there are generally fees involved for a marriage license, but it varies widely from state to state, county to county, and city to city - so, only the local county clerk/courthouse can give the answer as to what it costs in your area.

So - what steps did you go through the first time to get married, if applying for a license wasn't involved?


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