New Jersey Marriage Laws: License, Ceremony, and Annulment

To get married in New Jersey, you need a marriage license from a local registrar, a 72-hour waiting period after you apply, and a ceremony performed by an authorized officiant with at least two witnesses. Both partners must be at least 18 years old, with no exceptions. New Jersey marriage laws also govern who can officiate, when a marriage can be annulled, how property and debt are treated, and what alternatives exist for couples who choose not to marry. The license itself costs $28 and stays valid for six months.

How to Get a Marriage License

You apply at the local registrar’s office in the municipality where either partner lives. If neither of you is a New Jersey resident, apply in the municipality where the ceremony will take place, and hold the ceremony in that same municipality.¹ Both partners must appear in person and sign the application under oath in front of the registrar. Don’t sign it in advance.

Bring the following with you:

Valid photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or state or federal ID card.
Proof of residency from at least one applicant if either partner lives in New Jersey.
Your Social Security number, which the law requires for U.S. citizens and keeps confidential.
One witness, age 18 or older, who comes with you to the appointment.
Certified proof of any prior marriage’s end: a divorce decree, annulment order, or death certificate.¹

The application fee is $28. New Jersey does not require a blood test or medical exam.

The 72-Hour Waiting Period

New Jersey requires 72 hours between the time the registrar accepts your completed application and the moment the license can be issued.² If the wait ends on a weekend or holiday when the office is closed, you pick up the license the next business day.

A Superior Court judge can waive part or all of the waiting period in a genuine emergency. The court order must be filed with the registrar and attached to the application.² These waivers are uncommon and require convincing proof.

How Long the License Stays Valid

Once issued, your license is good for six months. The registrar can approve an extension up to one year total, but you have to request it before the original six months run out. If it lapses, you start over and pay the $28 again.¹

Who Can Marry in New Jersey

Both partners must be at least 18 years old. There are no exceptions: no parental consent, no judicial waiver, no pregnancy circumstance changes this rule.³

Neither of you has to be a New Jersey resident. Anyone can marry here; residency only affects where you apply and, for non-residents, where the ceremony must happen.¹

Certain relationships are off-limits. You cannot marry a parent, child, sibling, half-sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew. First cousins are allowed to marry in New Jersey.

You also cannot marry if either of you is already in a marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership recognized by the state.¹ Bigamy is a disorderly persons offense that carries up to six months in jail. The law recognizes narrow defenses if you reasonably believed the prior spouse had died, the two of you had lived apart with no contact for five consecutive years, or a court had already ended the prior marriage.⁴

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

New Jersey authorizes a wide range of officiants. The full list includes federal appellate and district court judges, U.S. magistrates, Superior Court judges, Tax Court judges, municipal court judges, and administrative law judges, plus retired judges from those courts who left in good standing. Local officials on the list include mayors, deputy mayors authorized by the mayor, township committee chairpersons, village presidents, surrogates, and county clerks. Any ordained or authorized member of the clergy of any religion may officiate, and any religious society, institution, or organization may join people in marriage according to its own rules and customs. Certified civil celebrants are also authorized.⁵

The civil celebrant program launched in 2014 for couples who want a personalized, non-religious ceremony led by someone other than a government official. Celebrants apply through the Department of State and pay a certification fee between $50 and $75.⁶ Clergy, judges, and other traditional officiants do not need this certification.

The rule allowing religious organizations to marry couples according to their own customs is broad enough to cover traditions where no single officiant presides, such as Quaker meetings.⁵ Outside of an established religious tradition, the person officiating must appear on the authorized list for the marriage to be legally valid.

What the Ceremony Must Include

The state does not prescribe specific vows and does not require any religious content, but the ceremony must include a clear exchange of consent between both partners. At least two witnesses must attend and sign the marriage certificate.⁷ These ceremony witnesses are separate from the single witness required at the license application.

After the ceremony, the officiant fills out the marriage certificate and returns it to the local registrar within five days. Missing that deadline does not void your marriage, but it creates paperwork problems that may take legal help to sort out. Keep a certified copy of the certificate for name changes, insurance, and other administrative needs.

Any marriage entered into after December 1, 1939, without both a valid license and a ceremony conducted by an authorized officiant is void.⁸

When a Marriage Can Be Annulled

A court can annul a marriage that should never have been recognized. New Jersey’s statutory grounds are:

Bigamy: one partner had a living spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner at the time of the marriage.
A prohibited family relationship between the partners.
Incurable physical impotence unknown to the other partner at the time of the marriage and not ratified afterward.
Lack of mental capacity due to a mental condition, intoxication, or drugs at the time of the ceremony.
Duress or fraud about something essential to the marriage.
Underage marriage: one partner was under 18 at the ceremony.⁹

For impotence, mental incapacity, duress, and fraud, annulment is only available if the affected partner has not continued living with the other spouse after discovering the problem. Voluntarily staying in the marriage after learning the truth is treated as ratification.

Prenuptial Agreements

New Jersey follows its own version of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. A prenup must be in writing, signed by both partners, and include a statement of assets attached to the document. No separate consideration is required; the agreement is enforceable on its face.

A court can throw out a prenup if the partner challenging it proves any of the following by clear and convincing evidence:

The agreement was signed involuntarily.
The terms were unconscionable at the time enforcement was sought.
One partner did not receive full and fair financial disclosure, did not waive that disclosure in writing, and could not reasonably have known the other’s financial picture.
One partner did not consult an independent attorney and did not waive that opportunity in writing.

Both partners need to disclose their finances fully. Hiding assets, debts, or income is the fastest way to get a prenup tossed. Most couples attach a detailed schedule listing every account, property, debt, and income source. Skipping independent legal counsel is risky as well, since the unrepresented partner has a stronger case to challenge the agreement later.

Property and Debt After Marriage

New Jersey is an equitable distribution state. If a marriage ends in divorce, a court divides marital property fairly based on the circumstances rather than automatically splitting everything down the middle. The court weighs factors including the length of the marriage, each partner’s income and earning capacity, what each brought into the marriage, contributions as a homemaker, and the debts and liabilities of both partners.¹⁰

Property acquired during the marriage generally counts as marital property subject to division. Property you owned before the wedding, along with gifts and inheritances received during the marriage, usually stays separate, but only if you keep it separate. Depositing pre-marital savings into a joint account or using an inheritance to renovate a shared home can convert separate property into marital property. The law also presumes that both partners made substantial contributions to acquiring income and property during the marriage, whether financial or not.¹⁰

You are generally not responsible for debts your spouse took on before the marriage. New Jersey law specifies that a husband is not liable for debts his wife contracted before the wedding, and the same principle applies in reverse.¹¹ Debts taken on jointly during the marriage are both partners’ responsibility.

Changing Your Name After Marriage

Marriage does not require either partner to change a name. If you do want to take your spouse’s surname or hyphenate both last names, the marriage certificate itself is your legal proof. No court petition is needed for those common options.

Once you have a certified copy of the certificate, update your Social Security record first, since most other agencies require the Social Security card to reflect your new name before they will process a change. You can start through your my Social Security account or by submitting Form SS-5 with proof of identity and your marriage certificate.¹² After that, update your driver’s license with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, then banks, employers, insurance companies, and the passport office.

If you and your spouse want to adopt a completely new surname that neither of you currently has, the marriage certificate will not cover it. You need to file a separate name-change petition in Superior Court, which requires a formal application, a background disclosure, and a judge’s approval.

Common Law Marriage and Domestic Partnerships

New Jersey does not recognize common law marriage. No amount of time living together, sharing finances, or presenting yourselves as married creates a legal marriage here. Common law marriage has been abolished in the state since December 1, 1939.⁸ New Jersey courts will, however, recognize a common law marriage validly established in another state that still permits them, provided the couple met that state’s requirements at the time.

Domestic partnerships remain available in New Jersey, but with a major restriction: both partners must be at least 62 years old. This applies to same-sex and opposite-sex couples alike. The 2004 Domestic Partnership Act originally allowed same-sex couples of any adult age to register, but after the Civil Union Act took effect in 2007, younger same-sex couples were directed toward civil unions and later marriage, and domestic partnership registration was limited to couples 62 and older.¹³

To register, both partners must share a common residence, be jointly responsible for each other’s basic living expenses, and not already be in a marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership. Partners also cannot be closely related by blood (first cousins or closer). Ending a domestic partnership requires filing with the Superior Court.¹³

Unmarried couples who do not qualify for a domestic partnership and choose not to marry should consider healthcare powers of attorney, wills, and co-ownership agreements for shared property. Without marriage or a registered partnership, a surviving partner has no automatic inheritance rights and no authority to make medical decisions for the other.

1
Department of Health. Marriage License
2
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 37 Section 37-1-4 – Issuance of License
3
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 37 Section 37-1-6 – Prohibition of Issuance of Marriage, Civil Union License to Minor
4
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C-24-1 – Bigamy
5
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 37 Section 37-1-13 – Authorization to Solemnize Marriages and Civil Unions
6
New Jersey Department of State. Certified Civil Celebrants
7
FindLaw. New Jersey Statutes Title 37 Section 37-1-17
8
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 37 Section 37-1-10 – Common Law Marriages
9
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2A Section 2A-34-1 – Causes for Judgments of Nullity
10
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2A Section 2A-34-23.1 – Equitable Distribution Criteria
11
Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 37 Section 37-2-10 – Married Woman’s Liability for Debts Contracted Before or After Marriage
12
Social Security Administration. How Do I Change or Correct My Name on My Social Security Number Card
13
Department of Health. Domestic Partnerships in New Jersey