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

(a)(1) Upon receipt of a completed application in a form prescribed by the State Registrar, which shall require both parties to sign the application certifying to the accuracy of the facts contained in the application, a town clerk shall issue to a person a civil marriage license in the form prescribed by the State Registrar only if at least one party has signed the license in the presence of the clerk and shall enter on the license the names of the parties to the proposed marriage and fill out the form as far as practicable. The town clerk shall retain in the clerk’s office a copy of the license until the marriage certificate is returned by the solemnizer.

(2) The application forms shall allow each party to a marriage to be designated “bride,” “groom,” or “spouse,” as each party chooses. This worksheet may be destroyed after the marriage is registered.

(3) The license shall be issued 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 State Registrar shall clearly indicate this option on the civil marriage application form required by subdivision (2) of this subsection (a). 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 the party freely and voluntarily agrees to dissolve the civil union between the parties.

(B) Dissolution pursuant to this subdivision (4) 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 (4) shall be exempt from fees provided in 32 V.S.A. § 1431(b)(2).

(b) A civil marriage license so issued shall be signed by both parties to the marriage and 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 the 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 it, and certify to the occurrence and date of the marriage. Thereafter, the document shall be known as a civil marriage certificate.

(c) Such certificate shall be returned within 10 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; 2017, No. 46, § 39, eff. May 22, 2017 and July 1, 2019; 2021, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 160, eff. July 1, 2023.)