Dear margocole-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
Sure, relax. There are actually a couple of ways you can “work around”
this with no problem:
In Illinois, as in most states, all non-religious ceremonies
(sometimes called “civil ceremonies”) must be performed by a judge,
justice of the peace or court clerk who has legal authority to perform
marriages, or by a person given temporary authority by a judge or
court clerk to conduct a marriage ceremony. You can call or write a
local judge or your court clerk and find out what the requirements are
for obtaining temporary authority for your friend, who happens to be
an aspiring priest. I doubt that you will run into any resistance
since he appears to be destined to obtain the authority on his own in
due time anyway. Once he receives this temporary authority (and they
may require him to actually make the request in his own behalf, rather
than him going through you to get the authority) for this, he will
probably assume some type or oath or receive some notarized decree
vesting in him the temporary powers him to lawfully perform this one
ceremony. If he gets this temporary authority, your problem is
resolved.
On the other hand, if they require your friend to present himself in
order to get the temporary authority, and he cannot, OR if you apply
for temporary authority and the request is denied for whatever reason,
OR if you feel like pulling strings is like pulling teeth, then do
this:
Get your license and all of the required documents and go quietly to a
Justice of the Peace. For a small fee he will “marry” you in a quick,
informal ceremony in his office. Have him sign the documents and then
go file them with the court clerk. Then go home as if nothing occurred
and share the secret only with your friend, the aspiring priest. On
the day of your wedding, you can do whatever you like and have
whatever ceremony you like and no one (except the two of you and of
course, your friend) will be the wiser. A word here though – make
certain that ONLY THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE SIGNS THE LICENSE BEFORE IT
IS FILED and that your friend, the aspiring priest DOES NOT SIGN IT -
ANYWHERE. His signature will invalidate the marriage, since he has no
legal authority to marry, and could perhaps cause him some legal
problems. If the JP signs the document and marries you in his office
on Oct 1, for example, at the time of your ceremony on Oct 2 you will
already be legally (and secretly) married. There’s no law in Illinois
(or anywhere else that I know of) requiring anyone to obtain a license
to RENEW their vows, which is essentially what you will be doing,
unbeknownst to your family and friends in attendance. See what I
mean? J
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
ILLINOIS MARRIAGE LICENSE, LAWS & REQUIREMENTS
http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/illinois/
MARRIAGE AND MARRIAGE LICENSES
http://www.kamya.com/misc/license.html
FINDLAW
http://cobrands.public.findlaw.com/family/nolo/faq/EB95C264-54FF-4D07-A89342705EE7133F.html#F3E2F01F-5E34-4786-85E12049F581F2C1
(SEE: “Who can perform a marriage ceremony?”)
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
MARRIAGE LAWS ILLINOIS
“TEMPORARY AUTHORITY” MARRIAGE |
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