Marriage License Application: Filing, Fees, and Officiants

A Wisconsin marriage license application is filed in person by both partners at a county clerk’s office, followed by a three-day waiting period before the license is issued. Once issued, the license is good for a ceremony anywhere in Wisconsin for 60 days.

Which County Clerk to Visit

If at least one of you has lived in Wisconsin for the past 30 days, you apply in that person’s county of residence. If you both live out of state, you apply in the county where the ceremony will take place.¹ There is no online or mail-in option. Both applicants have to appear together before the county clerk or a deputy clerk.

What to Bring

Missing paperwork means going home and starting over. Have all of this ready:

A certified copy of each applicant’s birth certificate. Hospital souvenir certificates and photocopies are not accepted.²
A valid, unexpired photo ID for each of you: a state driver’s license, state ID card, U.S. passport, passport card, or Resident Alien ID.³
Your Social Security number, if one has been issued to you. Non-citizens who were never assigned a number are exempt.³
Proof of your current address. An unexpired ID showing that address works. If your ID is out of date, bring a utility, phone, or cable bill or government correspondence from the last 30 to 60 days.³
If either of you was previously married, a certified copy of the divorce judgment, annulment decree, or former spouse’s death certificate.²

If any of your vital records are in a language other than English, you need a notarized English translation done by a third party — not by the applicant. Bring the original certified document and the notarized translation together.³

Information the Clerk Will Ask For

The clerk fills the marriage document out from what you tell them at the counter, so know these details before you go:

Both applicants’ full legal names.
Both parents’ full names for each applicant, including each mother’s full maiden name.⁴
The date and location of the ceremony, down to the county and the city, town, or village.
Your officiant’s name, mailing address, phone number, and email.⁴

Check every name and date at the counter before you leave. Fixing an error after the license is issued means the clerk has to send a letter of correction to the state registrar, which slows things down.⁵

Fees, the Three-Day Wait, and the 60-Day Window

The state-mandated base fee is $49.50, but each county board can raise it, and most larger counties do. Milwaukee County and Dane County both charge $120, for example.⁶⁷ Call your county clerk to confirm the amount and what payment methods they take.

Once you apply and pay, a three-day waiting period starts, and the license is issued on the fourth calendar day.⁸ Licenses are not issued on weekends or holidays, so a Thursday application means the earliest issuance is the following Monday.⁹ If your timeline is tight, the clerk has discretion to waive the wait for an extra fee of up to $25.

The issued license covers a ceremony anywhere in Wisconsin, not just your application county, and is valid for 60 days from issuance.⁵ If those 60 days pass without a ceremony, the license expires and you start over with a new application and fee.

Age and Recent Divorce

The general marriage age in Wisconsin is 18. Applicants who are 16 or 17 can get a license, but both parents or legal guardians must come to the county clerk in person and sign a consent form.⁴ No license is issued to anyone under 16.

There is also a six-month cooling-off period after a divorce. A new marriage entered into before six months have passed from the date the divorce judgment was granted is void — treated as though it never happened, not merely voidable.¹⁰ Count from the judgment date, not the separation date.

Who Can Officiate

Your officiant must be at least 18 and fit one of these categories:

An ordained member of the clergy of any religious denomination or society.
A licentiate of a denominational body, or an appointee of a bishop serving as the regular clergy member of a church.
A justice, circuit court judge, reserve judge, or municipal judge.
A circuit court commissioner or supplemental court commissioner.¹¹

Wisconsin also allows self-solemnization. If one or both of you belong to a religious society, denomination, or sect whose customs allow it, you can marry each other by mutual declaration without a separate officiant. Secular humanism and similar belief systems qualify, and the clerk does not ask for proof of affiliation. In a self-solemnized ceremony, both partners sign the officiant portion of the marriage document.¹¹

Whoever officiates, two competent adult witnesses must be physically present at the ceremony. Marriage by proxy, phone, video call, or any other electronic method is not legal in Wisconsin.¹²

Filing the Document After the Ceremony

The officiant, or both spouses in a self-solemnized ceremony, must return the completed marriage document to the register of deeds within three days of the ceremony, filled out in unfading black ink.¹³ This filing is what creates the official state record of the marriage. Skipping or delaying it causes problems later when you need proof of marriage for a name change, insurance, or other legal purposes, so make sure your officiant understands the deadline before the wedding day.

Requesting Certified Copies

Once the register of deeds processes your filed marriage document, you can order certified copies. Get a couple at least. Banks, employers, the Social Security Administration, and the DMV all ask for certified copies during name changes and beneficiary updates.

Only people with a “direct and tangible interest” can get a certified copy: either spouse, parents, siblings, grandparents, children, legal guardians, or an authorized representative with written permission. You need a valid photo ID at pickup.¹⁴

Certified copies cost $20 each. Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $3 apiece.¹⁴ You can request them in person at the register of deeds office, by mail with a check or money order, or online through VitalChek, which adds a processing fee to the county charge. Ordering two or three at once saves you a second trip when the next agency asks for an original.

1
Wisconsin Statutes. Wisconsin Code 765.05 – Marriage License; by Whom Issued
2
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.09 – Application for Marriage License
3
Kenosha County, WI – Official Website. Marriage License Requirements
4
Dane County Clerk’s Office. Marriage License
5
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.12 – Marriage License, When Authorized; Corrections; Contents
6
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.15 – Fee to County Clerk
7
County of Milwaukee. Marriage License – County Clerk
8
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.08 – Application for Marriage License
9
Crawford County Wisconsin. Marriage License
10
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.03 – Who Shall Not Marry; Divorced Persons
11
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.16 – Marriage Contract, How Made; Officiating Person
12
Burnett County, Wisconsin. Information for Marriage Applicants and Officiants
13
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 765.19 – Delivery and Filing of Marriage Document
14
Fond du Lac County. Marriage Certificates