North Carolina Marriage Laws | § 51-6

North Carolina General Statutes 51-6

Solemnization without license unlawful.

No minister, officer, or any other person authorized to solemnize a marriage under the laws of this State shall perform a ceremony of marriage between a man and woman, or shall declare them to be husband and wife, until there is delivered to that person a license for the marriage of the said persons, signed by the register of deeds of the county in which the marriage license was issued or by a lawful deputy or assistant. There must be at least two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. Whenever a man and woman have been lawfully married in accordance with the laws of the state in which the marriage ceremony took place, and said marriage was performed by a magistrate or some other civil official duly authorized to perform such ceremony, and the parties thereafter wish to confirm their marriage vows before an ordained minister or minister authorized by a church, or in a ceremony recognized by any religious denomination, federally or State recognized Indian Nation or Tribe, nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit such confirmation ceremony; provided, however, that such confirmation ceremony shall not be deemed in law to be a marriage ceremony, such confirmation ceremony shall in no way affect the validity or invalidity of the prior marriage ceremony performed by a civil official, no license for such confirmation ceremony shall be issued by a register of deeds, and no record of such confirmation ceremony may be kept by a register of deeds.

(1871-2, c. 193, s. 4; Code, s. 1813; Rev., s. 2086; C.S., s. 2498; 1957, c. 1261; 1959, c. 338; 1967, c. 957, ss. 6, 9; 1977, c. 592, s. 2; 2001-62, s. 6.)

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More North Carolina Marriage Laws

§ 51-3 Want of capacity; void and voidable marriages.
§ 51-1 Requisites of marriage; solemnization.
§ 51-1.1 Certain marriages performed by ministers of Universal Life Church validated.
§ 51-1.2 (See Editor's note) Marriages between persons of the same gender not valid.
§ 51-6 Solemnization without license unlawful.
§ 51-2.1 Marriage of certain underage parties.
§ 51-2.2 Parent includes adoptive parent.
§ 51-3.1 Interracial marriages validated.
§ 51-3.2 Marriage licensed and solemnized by a federally recognized Indian Nation or Tribe.
§ 51-4 Prohibited degrees of kinship.
§ 51-5 Marriages between slaves validated.
§ 51-18 Record of licenses and returns; originals filed.
§ 51-8.2 Issuance of marriage license when applicant is unable to appear.
§ 51-15 Obtaining license by false representation misdemeanor.
§ 51-16 Form of license.
§ 51-16.1 Form of license for Address Confidentiality Program participant.
§ 51-17 Penalty for issuing license unlawfully.
§ 51-19 Penalty for failure to record.
§ 51-2 Capacity to marry.
§ 51-5.5 Recusal of certain public officials.
§ 51-7 Penalty for solemnizing without license.
§ 51-8 License issued by register of deeds.
§ 51-18.1 Correction of errors in application or license; amendment of names in application or license.
§ 51-21 Issuance of delayed marriage certificates.