Marriage Licenses

Updated – 08/28/2017 as per R.S. 221-228 and CCP 74.3.1
Based on ruling in Vo vs. Gee, U.S.D.C. Eastern District of Louisiana No. 16-15639

Marriage License applications are accepted at the Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court’s Offices in Amite and in Hammond. If you are acquiring your license in our Hammond office, you will need to arrive by 3:30 p.m. Licenses must be purchased at least 24 hours in advance of the ceremony. (eff. 08/01/2018)

The cost is $35.00, payable in cash, check or credit card to the Clerk of Court. (This price includes a Certified Copy of your recorded Marriage License.)

Pursuant to applicable Louisiana statutes, applicants for Marriage Licenses must provide:

  • Completed Application for Marriage License All of the information requested on the application MUST be provided by the parties.
    **You must provide the date your most recent marriage ended.
    **One party may present all required documentation to receive the license. Party or parties present must show a valid U.S. state-issued driver’s license or government-issued ID when signing the Marriage License Application.
  • Applicants must present an original or certified copy of their birth record. If either party was born outside the United States he/she must present the original birth certificate. If the birth certificate is not in English, applicant(s) must also provide a translated copy from a certified translator. Certificates of Naturalization can also be accepted in place of a birth record.
  • NO marriage license for a minor under the age of 16 shall be issued. NO marriage license for a minor of the age of 16 or 17 shall be issued where there is an age difference of 3 years or greater between the persons seeking the marriage license. Contact the Clerk’s office for further information 985-748-4146

A Marriage License expires 30 days from the date of issue. Licenses obtained in Louisiana may only be used in Louisiana.

Please Schedule An Appointment Below

For further assistance or questions, please contact our Marriage License Department at (985) 284-2670.



Covenant Marriage Act

Contracting a Covenant Marriage

The couple who chooses to enter into a Covenant Marriage agrees to be bound by two serious limitations on obtaining a divorce or separation. These limitations do not apply to other couples married in Louisiana:

  • The couple legally agrees to seek marital counseling if problems develop during the marriage; and
  • The couple can only seek a divorce or legal separation for limited reasons, as explained herein.
Declaration of Intent

In order to enter into a Covenant Marriage, the couple must sign a recitation that provides:

  • A marriage is an agreement to live together as husband and wife forever;
  • The parties have chosen each other carefully and disclosed to each other “everything which could adversely affect” the decision to marry;
  • The parties have received premarital counseling;
  • A commitment that if the parties experience marital difficulties they commit to take all reasonable efforts to preserve their marriage, including marital counseling; and
  • The couple must also obtain premarital counseling from a priest minister, rabbi or similar clergyman of any religious sect, or a professional marriage counselor.

After discussing the meaning of a Covenant Marriage with the counselor, the couple must also sign, together with an attestation by the counselor, a notarized affidavit to the effect that the counselor has discussed with them:

  • The seriousness of a Covenant Marriage;
  • That the commitment to marriage is for life;
  • The obligation of the couple to seek marital counseling if problems arise in their marriage; and
  • That they have received the informational pamphlet published by the Attorney General entitled “Covenant Marriage Act.”

The two documents which comprise the Declaration of Intent—the recitation and the affidavit with attestation—must be presented to the official who issues the marriage license with the couple’s application for a marriage license.

Legal Separation in a Covenant Marriage

In order to obtain a legal separation (which is not a divorce and therefore does not end the marriage), a spouse in a Covenant Marriage must first obtain counseling and then must prove:

  • Adultery by the other spouse;
  • Commission of a felony by the other spouse and a sentence of imprisonment at hard labor or death;
  • Abandonment by the spouse for one year;
  • Physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or of a child of either spouse;
  • The spouses have lived separated and apart for two years; or
  • Habitual intemperance (for example, alcohol or drug abuse), cruel treatment, or severe ill treatment by the other spouse.
Divorce in a Covenant Marriage

A marriage that is not a Covenant Marriage may be ended by divorce more easily than a Covenant Marriage. In a marriage that is not a Covenant Marriage; a spouse may get a divorce for adultery by the other spouse, conviction of a felony by the other spouse and his imprisonment at hard labor or death, or by proof that the spouses have lived separate and apart for six months before or after filing for divorce. In a Covenant Marriage a spouse may get a divorce only after receiving counseling and may only get a divorce for the following reasons:

  • Adultery by the other spouse;
  • Commission of a felony by the other spouse and sentence of imprisonment at hard labor or death;
  • Abandonment by the other spouse for one year;
  • Physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or of a child of either spouse;
  • The spouses have lived separate and apart for two years; or the spouses are judicially or legally separated and have lived separate and apart since the legal separation for:
    • One year and six months if there is a minor child or children of the marriage;
    • One year is the separation was granted for abuse of a child or either spouse;
    • One year in all other cases.
A Note to Presently Married Couples

Couples who are already married may execute a declaration of intent to designate their marriage a Covenant Marriage. They must sign a recitation and affidavit similar to those described in this pamphlet, after receiving counseling. The counselor must attest to the counseling. This intent to designate their marriage a Covenant Marriage must be filed with the official who issued their marriage license and with whom the marriage certificate of the couple is filed. If the couple was married outside of Louisiana, a copy of their marriage certificate, with the document of intent, shall be filed with the officer who issues marriage licenses in the parish of the couple’s domicile. A fee of $25.00 is charged for couples already married who want to enter into a covenant marriage.

Clergy

Pursuant to La. R.S. 9:204, anyone (other than a judge or justice of the peace) who intends to perform marriage ceremonies principally in Tangipahoa Parish must deposit with the Clerk of Court an affidavit stating his lawful name, denomination, and address. A sample affidavit is supplied below. This affidavit may be presented in person at either our Hammond or Amite offices or mailed to ATTN: Marriage Department, Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court, P.O. Box 667, Amite, LA 70422. Click Here for Affidavit