Getting Married in New York City
Getting married in New York is easy! There are a few, simple steps that you will need to remember before you can make the big day happen.
Before you get married in New York, you will first need a marriage license, which is issued by the town or city clerk. You will need to visit them in person because the forms must be signed by the bride and the groom in the presence of the clerk. You will need to bring two pieces of ID. One must prove age (birth certificate, baptismal record, naturalization record, or census record) and the other must prove identity (driver's license, passport, employment picture ID, immigration record). There will then be a waiting period of 24 hours from the exact time the New York marriage license is issued and it is valid for 60 days. The cost ranges between $35-$40.
Take the plunge
Your New York marriage license may be used anywhere within the state if you wish to travel with your car rental in New York City. Besides the NY marriage License, there is no particular form or ceremony required to get married in New York, except that there must be a member of the clergy or public official and at least one other witness that can testify to the couple taking each other as husband and wife. The person performing the ceremony must be registered with the City of New York in order to perform a marriage within the city limits.
Choosing your name
The last name people take when they get married can be a very confusing process. When you get married in New York there are a couple things to consider. Do you keep yours? Take theirs? Or make a combination of the two? There are so many options today that the guidelines set out by the state make it a little simpler. The state website says: "Every person has the right to adopt any name by which he or she wishes to be known simply by using that name consistently and without intent to defraud. A person's last name (surname) does not automatically change upon marriage, and neither party to the marriage is required to change his or her last name". The name must have one of the following:
- the surname of the other spouse;
- any former surname of either spouse;
- a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the premarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse;
- a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses.
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