Marriage License Info

Please contact the County Clerk’s office for the County in which you plan to be married for their latest rules and regulations. This page is only intended to be a general guide. The 8 counties in the greater Chicago area are Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will, and DeKalb.

General Information:

• In Illinois, you must obtain a marriage license (or civil union registration) no more than 60 days, and no less than 24 hours, before your marriage.
• You must purchase your license together in the COUNTY in which you will be married.
• Even though you purchase a license, it is not valid until the actual ceremony is performed by an “officiant”, and the license is signed and returned by them to the County from which it was purchased.
• As of the moment, only DuPage County requests witnesses (two) to the ceremony. No County in the greater Chicago area requires any witnesses.
• Both applicants must be present when applying for the license.
• No blood test is required.
• People 18 years old and older who are not blood relatives may marry without parental consent.
• First cousins older than the age of 50 may marry (this rule may be changing).
• Applicants between the ages of 16 and 17 may marry only under certain conditions.
• A certified divorce decree may need to be produced if either party has been divorced. (There may be a lapsed time period beyond which no decree is required to be presented; for example, 6 months for Cook County.)
• Note: Illinois law requires the officiant to mail in or deliver the completed license.