I was married in July of 2003, and from the start there were problems,
culminating in my leaving the marriage in September of 2004. My
ex-wife and I never sent in the marriage license application, so it
was never recorded with the state of Georgia. I confirmed this when I
went to the government administration building in my county of
residence. The clerk there pulled up my name in her computer and then
said that even though the license was not recorded and we went through
a marriage ceremony we were still legally married. Neither my ex nor
myself have remarried, and the clerk told me that if I were to remarry
and my ex got wind of it, she could render my new marriage null and
void by claiming I never legally divorced her. The clerk also said
that we would need to have the marriage license recorded and then get
the divorce, and that she would make a notation in the computer that I
had been in to check on it. My question is this: Since the marriage
license was never recorded, are we still legally married? My ex and I
had no children, no community property, and no debts together.

Hi mailman706,

"My ex-wife and I never sent in the marriage license application, so
it was never recorded with the state of Georgia. My question is this:
Since the marriage license was never recorded, are we still legally
married?"

No, you're not legally married without a recorded license. Please be
aware, though that there are two steps to getting a marriage license.
The first is sending in the application, after which you will receive
your license. After your wedding the license will be signed and
witnessed and the person who performed the ceremony will send the
license in to be recorded.

1) You never sent in the license application. 
Had you applied for the license but not recorded it after the wedding,
then either you are your wife could've made an affidavit attesting to
your ceremonial marriage and a judge could've reissued a marriage
license.  However, given the fact that you were never issued a
marriage license, there is nothing to reissue.

You can search for any Georgia Code at the following link. The one
that concerns you is 19 - Domestic Relations.
Georgia Assembly: Georgia Code Titles:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/GaCode/index.htm

19 - Domestic Relations
19-3-1.
To constitute a valid marriage in this state there must be:
(1) Parties able to contract;
(2) An actual contract; and
(3) Consummation according to law.
19-3-30.
"(d) The fact of issue of any unrecorded marriage license may be
established by affidavit of either party to a ceremonial marriage,
which affidavit shall set forth the date, the place, and the name and
title of the official issuing the license.
(e) In the event that any marriage license is not returned for
recording, as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, either
party to a ceremonial marriage may establish the marriage by
submitting to the judge of the probate court the affidavits of two
witnesses to the marriage ceremony setting forth the date, the place,
and the name of the official or minister performing the ceremony. The
judge shall thereupon reissue the marriage license and enter thereon
the certificate of marriage and all dates and names in accordance with
the evidence submitted and shall record and cross-index same in the
proper chronological order in the book kept for that purpose."
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/GaCode/Title19.pdf


2) Common Law marriage is no longer legal in Georgia.

"Georgia repealed its common-law marriage statute, GA. CODE ANN. §§
19-3-1 and 19-3-1.1, which voids any common law marriage purported to
have been contracted on or after 1/1/97."
http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/alternative_lifestyles/common_law_marriages/abolished_common_law/index.shtml


Additional Links of Interest:

Marriage Records
"Information about marriage records is available at the state office
from 1952 to the present. Copies of marriage records earlier than 1952
and after 1996 are only available from the county Probate Court where
the license was issued. Certified copies of marriage licenses are
available to the general public, but a certified copy of the marriage
license application is only available to the bride and groom shown on
the marriage license. Some Probate Courts also issue an attractive,
framable copy of marriage documents. These copies are not available at
the State Vital Records office."
http://health.state.ga.us/programs/vitalrecords/marriage.asp

What Makes Our Marriage Legal ?
Every state in the United States requires a license to legalize
Marriage. You cannot get married without it
http://www.1800bride2b.com/articles/marriagelaws.htm

Marriage
"3. To borrow a phrase from Ted, these things have a way of coming
out. Marriage licenses are public documents. If, for any reason,
anyone were to go checking the public records of New York & found no
record, the first thing they might think is that the two of you were
never legally married because there is no license."
http://boards.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/WebX.fcgi?14@226.I5M5brXgX7r%5E0@.ef1469e/1351


I hope this helps but I urge you to seek legal counsel. "Google
Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute
for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax,
legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice." If you
have any questions, please post a clarification request *before*
closing/rating my answer and I'll be happy to reply. I'm left to
wonder about the official who performed your wedding. He/she could
face a fine if he/she is found guilty of a misdemeanor.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used:

georgia 19-1-1 codes marriage
georgia wedding "without a license"
georgia "wedding without a license"
georgia legal wedding "without license"
georgia wedding with "no license"
georgia solemnize the marriage "without a license"
georgia marriage law
georgia divorce "no marriage license"
georgia marriage "no license"

---

Request for Answer Clarification by mailman706-ga on 17 Apr 2005 16:52 PDT

Thanks for the answers, hummer and expertlaw. They are great! I just
need one clarification. Is there any kind of statute of limitations on
when a marriage license can be recorded? Let's say hypothetically it
has been five years since the marriage license was applied for. Could
either myself or my ex submit the application or go before a judge to
have the license recorded after that extended a period of time?

Thanks again!

---

Request for Answer Clarification by mailman706-ga on 17 Apr 2005 16:54 PDT

I would like to add one fact I did not do before. My ex worked for the
pastor who married who married us and she actually took the marriage
license application off his desk and told me that until all of our
problems were worked out, she would not send the application in. That
is why the pastor who performed the marriage did not send it in to the
state.

Hope this might clarify things...

Thanks!

---

Clarification of Answer by hummer-ga on 17 Apr 2005 18:20 PDT

Hi mailman706,

I believe that the only limitation regarding an affidavit of the
ceremony would be being able to find two witnesses who were present at
your wedding and who are willing to sign the affidavit. Other than
that, I would think that if there were a time limit, it would say so
in the code (as it does for the regular reporting of the license in
that you must do it within 30 days of the wedding). Perhaps expertlaw
knows differently, but I haven't seen a time limit mentioned anywhere.

If I were you, I would consult an attorney about the sticky issue of
that application. If I understand you correctly, it was never mailed
in. In other words, there was no license when you had your wedding. If
that's the case, and forgetting about the pastor's part in this, then
there's a good chance that an affidavit wouldn't hold up in court. The
affidavit is meant as a way to legalize marriages that had licenses
and were perfectly legal at the time, but for some reason those
licenses were never recorded. It's not meant as a means to legalize
something that was never legal in the first place, just to make
someone's life miserable.

Bottom line, if your application for the license was never mailed in
(I'm talking about before the wedding), if you didn't have a license,
then you were never legally man and wife. If you were still in love
and wanted to legalize your marriage, I'm sure a judge would look
favorably on your affidavit, but given your circumstances, I have my
doubts.

I hope that answers your question.
Good luck!
hummer

Wow! This helped greatly! Thank you, hummer, for doing the research
for me in such an expedient manner and also thank you expertlaw for
your comment. I'm going to make it a habit to use GoogleAnswers from
now on. This was definitely worth it!

Although this may seem like a semantic quibble, I would argue on those
facts that you are legally married, even though your marriage is not
properly registered with the state. That appears to be the clerk's
concern, as the marriage can be documented at any time through the
filing of the marriage certificate or an appropriate affidavit, which
(absent divorce or annulment of the prior marriage) would render any
subsequent marriage invalid.

Dear mailman706,

Thank you very much for your nice note, rating, and tip, all are
surely appreciated. I'm happy you are happy and I hope everything
turns out well regarding your unusual situation. Again, the best thing
to do would be to give a local attorney a call, hopefully the
information I provided will help you with that call.

Best of luck - and welcome to GA!
hummer