Getting Married in Oregon
To get married in Oregon, you must:
- Be 18 or older (or 17 in some situations; see the question below for more information).
- Go to any Oregon County Clerk’s Office. Ask for a marriage license. The fee is $50-$75, depending on the county.
- Wait three days after you get the license, unless a judge or county clerk waives the waiting period. There may be an extra fee to waive the waiting period.
- Arrange for someone to perform the wedding. That person must have authorization from the state to perform weddings.
- Have at least two adult (age 18 or older) witnesses at the wedding.
Yes, in Oregon, you cannot marry:
- A person who is already married, or
- Someone who is your first cousin, aunt, uncle, parent, sibling, or half-sibling by blood.
If you marry one of these people, Oregon does not consider your marriage a legal marriage.
An adult (someone over 18), who has authority from Oregon to perform the wedding. For example:
- A clergy person, such as a minister, rabbi, or imam;
- A person with proper certification to perform a wedding in Oregon;
- A judge; or
- The county clerk.
The person who performs the ceremony must fill out the license and record of marriage form. They must mail this paperwork to the county clerk within five days of the wedding.
Contact your local circuit court, county court, or county clerk. Many courts keep a list of judges or officials who perform marriages.
You are not legally married if you don’t have a wedding within 60 days of getting your license.
A marriage license expires 60 days after it’s issued.
Yes.
Until 2014, people of the same sex could not get married in Oregon. But they could register with the state as domestic partners.
Oregon gives people in registered domestic partnerships the same legal rights as married couples.
But domestic partnerships have disadvantages, including:
- Other states may not accept the partnerships as legal; and
- Domestic partnerships have fewer federal rights than marriages.
Because of that, most same-sex couples in Oregon now choose marriage over domestic partnership. For more about registered domestic partnerships, you can visit this government website.
No. In Oregon, you must get a license and have a wedding to be married.
If you had a common law marriage in another state, Oregon will recognize your common law marriage if you move here.
But, if two unmarried people live together and act like spouses, they can have an unregistered domestic partnership. If you have an unregistered domestic partnership, you can ask the court for help dividing up your shared property and debts if your relationship ends. There are no court forms for this type of case, so you will need to get legal help.
If you are 17, you can get married in Oregon if:
- Your parent or legal guardian gives written permission; or
- You have lived in the county where you apply for a marriage license for at least 6 months, and your parent or guardian does not live in Oregon.
No. You cannot get married in Oregon if you are under 17.
No. When you get married, you and your spouse can choose to:
- Keep your own names;
- Use one of the spouse’s middle or last names; or
- Hyphenate or combine both last names.
Each spouse can also choose whether to keep their middle name, remove their middle name, or begin using their old last name as a middle name.
When you fill out the marriage license. Put the names you each want to use on your license. These will be your legal names. After you get married, you must tell others about your name change. For example, your work, the DMV, voter registration, Social Security, or the passport office.