Illinois Marriage Records

In Illinois, marriage records are vital documents maintained by county clerks where marriages occur. These records, which include marriage licenses, certificates, and verifications, provide legal proof of marriage and are necessary for various legal and administrative purposes.

Public access to marriage records is available, but Illinois law restricts access to certified copies of marriage records to the individuals named on the record or those with a direct interest, such as immediate family members or individuals with court orders. Entities like the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) provide uncertified copies of Illinois marriage records.

To legally marry in Illinois, couples must obtain a marriage license from a county clerk and have the marriage officiated within 60 days. Officiants include judges, clerks, or religious figures. Common-law marriages are not recognized, but civil unions may be converted to marriages. Marriage rates in Illinois have varied over the years, with recent declines, while the state maintains one of the lowest divorce rates in the country.

What are Marriage Records?

Marriage records in Illinois are vital records and documentation of the solemnization of the union or marriage between two persons. Marriage records in the state are kept by the county clerks in the counties where the marriages occurred. However, the Division of Vital Records in the State Department of Public Health may verify the facts of a marriage that occurred in the state from 1962 to the present. The facts of the marriage that may be verified include names, dates of the marriage, dates of birth of the spouses, and the county or city where the marriage occurred.

Marriage records in the state may be in the form of a marriage license, marriage verification, or marriage certificate. The marriage license is an official document required for couples to get married in the state; it must be applied for by intending couples. Marriage verification is a document verifying that a marriage occurred in the state but is not meant for official use. A marriage certificate is a post-marriage document providing proof of the legal union between two persons. It is an official document typically issued upon submitting a marriage license to the county clerk.

Illinois marriage records are public records accessible to members of the public who make appropriate requests to the proper custodians of the records. Under the Illinois Vital Records Act, certified copies of Illinois marriage records are only accessible to the persons named on the records and other persons with direct interests in the marriage records. Such persons include the children of the persons named on the records and persons who have obtained a court order authorizing access to the marriage records. Illinois marriage records may be obtained for varying purposes, including establishing inheritance rights, changing one's name, and proving eligibility for specific benefits.

An Illinois marriage record typically includes:

The full names of the spouses
The ages of birth of the spouses
The date of the marriage
The name of the marriage officiating minister
The place of marriage
The marriage license application date
The marriage license submission date at the county clerk's office
The marriage license number

Marriages in Illinois

The marriage rate in 2017, the last year the state Vital Statistics office provided public data, was 6 per 1,000 persons. In that year, the state recorded 76,684 marriages. The only year between 2008 and 2017 in which the state recorded below 70,000 marriages was in 2013, with 69,487 marriages at a rate of 5.4 per 1,000 residents. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, Illinois recorded 5.5, 5.2, 3.9, 4.7, and 4.9 marriages per 1,000 residents in 2018,2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Similarly, the state recorded 1.9, 1.5, 1.3, 1.2, and 1.1 divorces per 1,000 residents between 2017 and 2022. Divorce rates in Illinois ranked in the top three for the lowest divorce rates in the United States in that period.

Illinois marriage laws allow you to get married if you are same-sex or different-sex to your partner. First cousins older than 50 may marry. To marry, you and your partner must both be at least 18 years old, and neither party may already be in a marriage, a civil union, or a substantially similar valid relationship. If either partner is 16 or 17 years old, parental consent is required before you may get married. If your previous spouse or partner has died, you may be required to provide a certified copy of their death certificate. Marriages between close relatives are not allowed in the state.

To legally marry in Illinois, you must obtain a marriage license. You can obtain the license by submitting an application to any county clerk’s office in the state. Both intending spouses must appear at the county clerk's office to apply for a marriage license. In some counties, couples may begin the application process online by pre-registering their information via a portal. This allows couples to save time on the license application process. Individuals who reside outside Illinois are advised not to apply for a marriage license in the Prairie State if such a marriage would be illegal in their home state.

At your appointment at the clerk’s office, you must each present proof of your identity, such as a current driver’s license or state-issued photo identification. A certified copy of the certificate and a second form of identification showing the date of birth will be required for any applicant aged 16 or 17.

Additionally, both you and your partner must sign the license application in the presence of the county clerk's staff. A representative cannot sign on either's behalf, even if they have a notarized affidavit or power of attorney authorizing the representative to sign the application.

A license is valid only in the county of issuance, and the marriage ceremony must be performed and certified in that county. On the marriage license application, you and your partner must provide information such as your names, sexes, occupations, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates and places of birth, and names and addresses of the parents or guardians of each party. If either couple were in a previous marriage, civil union, or substantially similar valid relationship, you must submit the name, date, place, and court in which the marriage or legal relationship was dissolved or the date and place of the former spouse or partner's death.

Once you have submitted the application, the filing fee, and any required proof that you are not prohibited from entering into a marriage, you must wait one day for the license issued by the county clerk to become effective. The cost of an Illinois marriage license varies from county to county. Typically, applicants will pay between $15 and $60 for a marriage license. The license becomes valid in the county of issuance the day after and is valid for 60 days.

Upon obtaining the marriage license, you must deliver it to the person (an officiant) who will perform your marriage during the license validity period. Witnesses are not required by Illinois law. During the 60-day license validity period, you must hold the marriage ceremony and have the marriage certified in that county, or the license becomes invalid. To have the marriage certified, the marriage officiant will complete the date, place, and officiant information, sign your license, and return the license to the county clerk's office, where it was issued within 10 days after the date of the marriage. Once the marriage is certified, it becomes valid until it is dissolved under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Note that an Illinois marriage certificate is not a legal document until it has been recorded in the county clerk’s office where it was issued.

An Illinois marriage may be performed by:

A judge of a court of record
A judge of the Court of Claims
A retired judge of a court of record
A county clerk in any Illinois county with 2,000,000 or more inhabitants (Cook County)
A public official whose duties include solemnization of marriages
An officiant in good standing with their religious denomination

A church, religious denomination, or clergy member is free to decide which marriages to solemnize, and your marriage need not be solemnized by a clergy member to be valid. Illinois does not require a religious ceremony to enter into a marriage.

Common law marriages have been abolished in the state since 1905. However, partners may convert civil unions into marriages under the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act. Note that the state does not force partners in civil unions to convert their unions into marriages. Partners may voluntarily apply for a marriage license and have their unions solemnized, as would couples seeking to enter into a marriage. Partners in civil unions cannot marry an outside party unless their civil unions are dissolved. Still, they may enter into a marriage with their civil union partner.

Illinois Marriage Certificate

A marriage certificate is an official document issued by the county clerk's office upon receiving the signed marriage license from the marriage officiant to married partners, serving as legal proof that the partners are legally married. This document includes important information such as the couple's names, the date and place of the marriage, and the officiant's information. The marriage certificate may be required for various legal and administrative purposes, such as changing a name, applying for spousal benefits, or updating marital status on official records.

After a couple is married, the officiant files the marriage license with the county clerk, who then registers the marriage and issues the marriage certificate. In Illinois, obtaining a marriage certificate involves a small fee and can be requested in person, by mail, or sometimes online, depending on the county. The certificate is a vital record typically kept by the couple for future reference or legal needs.

How to Find and Access Illinois Marriage Records

Since 1985, the Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) has partnered with the Illinois State Archives to create an index of marriages in Illinois before 1901. This index draws from various sources, including original county clerks' marriage records, registers, licenses, and publications by county genealogical societies and individuals. The index provides the names of the bride and groom, the marriage date or license issuance date, the county of the marriage, and a citation to the original record.

Copies of Illinois marriage records are available from county clerks in the state. At the state level, marriage verification information (facts of the marriage, such as names, dates, and location) may be obtained from the Division of Vital Records. An Illinois marriage record can be obtained online or offline.

Finding and Accessing Illinois Marriage Records Online

If you need a copy of a marriage record listed in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, you can obtain it from either the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) system or the county clerk where the marriage took place. IRAD holds marriage records, including original documents or microfilm, for over seventy counties in Illinois. To check availability, use the Local Governmental Records Holdings Database and search with the term "MARRIAGE" in the title field. If the record is available, write the appropriate IRAD depository and include all the information in the Statewide Marriage Index in your letter. Although marriage records searches attract no fee, IRAD provides uncertified copies, with a small fee for each record found.

Several counties in Illinois provide online access for requesters seeking marriage records. Hence, you should visit the webpage of the county clerk where the record you want was filed to find out if online access to marriage records is available.

For instance, Cook, Rock Island, Peoria, and Will Counties allow requesters to obtain certified copies of marriage records via VitalChek, an approved third-party vendor. Lake County and Adams County allow requesters to search their genealogical records indexes for marriage records; Effingham County marriage records may be searched via the county's marriage record online lookup tool, while Stephenson County allows the public to request a marriage record online. Also, Adams County makes marriage certificates available online. Stephenson County allows requesters to do a preliminary search of records to verify that the clerk has the record before making a request.

Finding and Accessing Illinois Marriage Records Offline

You may obtain a marriage verification by mail, fax, or in person. To order by mail, mail a completed application for verification of marriage or a letter providing the names of both spouses, their dates of birth, and the place and date of marriage, if known, and a check or money order of $5 made payable to the "Illinois Department of Public Health" to:

Illinois Department of Public Health

Division of Vital Records

925 E. Ridgely Avenue

Springfield, IL 62702-2737

To obtain a marriage verification by fax, send your order to (217) 523-2648. In the order, include the application for marriage verification or provide both parties' names and the date and place of the marriage on the transmittal or cover sheet. To complete an order by fax, you must also include the following information:

Your credit card number and expiration date
A daytime phone number, including area code
Your return address
Your written signature
A valid government-issued photo ID

Faxed orders may take up to seven business days to process. There is a $5 fee, a $15.00 handling fee, and a $22.00 fee if the UPS delivery option is selected. Note that UPS deliveries are not made to post office boxes and an adult signature will be required to accept UPS deliveries.

To order a marriage verification in person, drop off your order at the Division of Vital Records office of the Illinois Department of Public Health at 925 East Ridgely Avenue in Springfield. The office is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. You must provide a valid government-issued photo ID card for in-person orders.

You can obtain a certified copy of a marriage record by contacting the county clerk where the marriage license was filed. Most counties allow requesters to order certified copies of marriage records by mail and during in-person visits to the county clerk's offices. Typically, certified copies of Illinois marriage records are accessible by:

The bride named on the marriage license
The groom named on the marriage license
Immediate family of the bride or groom
Individuals with written, notarized consent from the individuals named on the record

Also, county clerks usually require the following information from requesters of Illinois marriage records:

The groom's full name
The bride's full name, including their maiden name
The city where the marriage occurred
The month, day, and year of the marriage
A valid photo ID, such as a driver's license or state ID
The applicable fee for the certified copy and additional fees for extra copies of the same record, if applicable

References

Counties in Illinois

List of Content

What are Marriage Records?
Marriages in Illinois
1. Illinois Marriage Certificate
How to Find and Access Illinois Marriage Records
1. Finding and Accessing Illinois Marriage Records Online
2. Finding and Accessing Illinois Marriage Records Offline