Yesterday, I wrote about visiting the courthouse to get a marriage license, musing that I was as good as married.
Today, I found a comment from my lovely sister, Jennifer, that in the eyes of the law, I might be better than "as good." I might actually be married.
What? When did that happen?
I questioned her, and she told me that in Pennsylvania -- where we grew up and she still lives -- marriage is officially a contractual agreement. The only thing needed to make a marriage legal are the bride's and groom's signatures on a marriage license; a ceremony is more sentimental than official. Both the priest who performed her marriage and the woman who helped her husband and her at the courthouse told her this when she got married.
I tried to confirm what she'd told me online but couldn't find any official information on the commonwealth's Web pages. I was only able to find this article, which says that it is possible to obtain a "self-uniting" marriage license, but couples need to ask for one specifically before beginning the application process. Furthermore, there is a three-day waiting period attached to marriage licenses in Pennsylvania, so I don't believe my sister got the entire truth.
Nevertheless, I was intrigued. I looked up marriage licensing information for my state, Illinois, wondering if I might actually have gotten myself married without knowing. As it turns out, no.
A legal marriage in Illinois requires that the license not only be signed by the bride and groom but completed by an officiant, who must be a current or retired judge from a court of record, a judge from the Court of Claims, a county clerk in a county with 2 million or more inhabitants, a public official whose duties include solemnizing marriages or a religious or tribal officiant.
So I guess I can't settle into married life just yet. I guess that's for the best. It would have been cool to be able to say we were married already, but at least now I don't have to miss my bachelorette party.
2 comments:
very cool!!!
Jen is, indeed, right about this one, but it takes more than just the license. There are other papers that must be filed with the court, such as Affidavits, but you do not need a church ceremony or even one in front of a court officer to be legally wed.
If you had stayed in PA, you could have saved some bucks!
Mom
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