My Fiance and I have been living together for 7 years.  I am 51 years
old. We cannot seem to get our schedules together to go and get
married.  We just want to make it legal in the eyes of God and man. 
My question to you is:  Is there any way we can do this over the
Internet?  Is there any way we can fill out forms and send them back
to receive a certificate of marriage?  It has to be 100% legitimate. 
I have tried to find this information but was unable to.  Actually, I
did find a place where I could fill out the necesary papers and return
them but I cannot remember where it was.  I live in Pennsylvania if
that makes any difference.  We would like to get this matter taken
care of as soon as possible as my fiance is going to a new job and I
want to be able to be put on hiw Medical Insurance.  How very romantic
eh?  Like I said this whole thing is but a technicality that we can't
seem to get accomplished left alone to our own devices.  Please find
this info for us..  Thank you very much,  Nicki Ferrari James

Dear nthisit-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.

Unfortunately, the answer to your question: “Is there any way we can
do this over the
Internet?”, is NO – not in Pennsylvania.

Unlike the rare handful of states that do permit and recognize proxy
marriages (a marriage ceremony where one or both parties are not
physically present), Pennsylvania requires both parties to attend the
solemnization ceremony in person and be physically present to speak in
their own behalf. What’s more, in Pennsylvania you will BOTH be
required to be present at the time of initial application for a
marriage license as well and you will need to bring your own witness
(who must also be physically present) who will also sign the documents
at the time they are notarized by the clerk. You with then receive the
license (unsigned by the officiating authority) but it cannot be used
for three days. Once the three-day waiting period expires, you may
hold your official ceremony and become legally married in person by an
authorized officiate.

Your only alternative in Pennsylvania is to obtain the signed and
witnessed documentation (in person), hold the ceremony (in person) and
then at your leisure one of you may file the documentation in the
absence of the other to certify the marriage.

There are some options in other states however, if you are inclined to
travel there, where you CAN hold a proxy marriage ceremony:

TEXAS http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/texas/index.shtml

MONTANA http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/montana/index.shtml

COLORADO http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/colorado/index.shtml

You need not be a resident of any of these states in order to be
married in there. As an alternative, albeit rather extreme, one of you
COULD theoretically travel to one of these states and become legally
married to the other by proxy if your proxy/consent paperwork is in
order as prescribed by law of that state.

I wish there was a way to help you make this dream come true but
unfortunatley this is the law in Pennsylvania.

Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. 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. Otherwise, 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

PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGE LICENSE, LAWS & REQUIREMENTS
http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/pennsylvania/index.shtml

TEXAS MARRIAGE LICENSE, LAWS & REQUIREMENTS
http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/texas/index.shtml

MONTANA MARRIAGE LICENSE, LAWS & REQUIREMENTS
http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/montana/index.shtml

COLORADO MARRIAGE LICENSE, LAWS & REQUIREMENTS
http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/colorado/index.shtml

SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

STATE LAWS PROXY MARRIAGE

PENNSYLVANIA PROXY MARRIAGE

---

Request for Answer Clarification by nthisit-ga on 18 Aug 2003 07:27 PDT

Thank you for all your time and effort.  I do want to clarify one
thing however, On the Internet, state lines fade away.  I do not have
to do this in Pa., I wanted to know if there was a way I could do it
over the Internet.  This is a matter of convenience, traveling to
another state is very inconvenient.  We can't even get it together to
do it in the state in which we live.  Any sign it send it in kind of
places?  There has to be someplace somewhere....

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 18 Aug 2003 09:40 PDT

Dear nthisit-ga; 

If you cannot travel and you are bound by the laws of the state in
which you are a legal resident, the jurisdictional body (Pennsylvania
state government - i.e., state lines) has exclusive control over legal
arrangments and contracts such as marriage. In order to be certified,
you will be required to file the marriage in the state in which you
reside. Accordingly, you must adhere to the law of the state.
Pennsylvania law, as I have explained above, does not observe proxy
marriages. Clearly then, "state lines" DO matter and there are no
alternatives in this matter. I realize that you are not particularly
happy with the facts in this answer, but it is nevertheless, the
truth. Unfortunatley Pennsylvania residents simply cannot become
legally married in the way you described.

In spite of the fact that you are understandably disappointed with
what you have learned, I hope your experience with our forum has
otherwise proved to be a positive and enlightening one.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga