2012 Vermont Statutes
Title 18 Health
Chapter 105 MARRIAGE RECORDS AND LICENSES
§ 5131 Issuance of marriage license; solemnization; return of marriage certificate

§ 5131. Issuance of marriage license; solemnization; return of marriage certificate

(a)(1) Upon application in a form prescribed by the department, a town clerk shall issue to a person a civil marriage license in the form prescribed by the department and shall enter thereon the names of the parties to the proposed marriage, fill out the form as far as practicable and retain in the clerk's office a copy thereof.

(2) The department shall prescribe forms that allow each party to a marriage to be designated "bride," "groom," or "spouse," as he or she chooses, and the application shall be in substantially the following form:

Date License issued ______ Clerk issuing License ______

This worksheet may be destroyed after marriage is registered.

(3) At least one party to the proposed marriage shall sign the certifying application to the accuracy of the facts so stated. The license shall be issued by the clerk of the town where either party resides or, if neither is a resident of the state, by any town clerk in the state.

(4)(A) Parties to a civil union certified in Vermont may elect to dissolve their civil union upon marrying one another but are not required to do so to form a civil marriage. The department shall clearly indicate this option on the marriage application form required by subdivision (2) of this subsection. If a couple elects this option, each party to the intended marriage shall sign a statement on the confidential portion of the civil marriage license and certificate form stating that he or she freely and voluntarily agrees to dissolve the civil union between the parties.

(B) Dissolution pursuant to this subdivision shall become effective upon solemnization of the marriage between the parties, and the parties shall not be required to file a petition for an uncontested dissolution with the family division of the superior court pursuant to 15 V.S.A. § 1206(d). A dissolution granted pursuant to this subdivision shall be exempt from fees provided in 32 V.S.A. § 1431(b)(2).

(b) A marriage license so issued shall be delivered by one of the parties to the proposed marriage, within 60 days from the date of issue to a person authorized to solemnize marriages by section 5144 of this title. If the proposed marriage is not solemnized within 60 days from the date of issue, such license shall become void. After such person has solemnized the marriage, he or she shall fill out that part of the form on the license provided for his or her use, sign and certify to the same. Thereafter the document shall be known as a marriage certificate.

(c) Such certificate shall be returned within ten days to the office of the town clerk from which the license issued by the person solemnizing such marriage. The town clerk shall retain and file the original according to sections 5007 and 5008 of this title. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. March 1, 1961; 1969, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1979, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 14; 1985, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1999, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 26; 2009, No. 3, § 7, eff. Sept. 1, 2009; 2011, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)