Jackson Parish Clerk of Court
Marriage

Marriage Licenses

A certified copy of both birth certificates will be required to obtain a marriage license. In most cases, we can provide a copy of a Louisiana birth certificate within 15 minutes, but be aware that as we are dependent on the State Registrar for our copies, it may require additional time.

The legal age in Louisiana to obtain a marriage license without parental consent is eighteen (18).

A minor under the age of sixteen (16) is prohibited from entering into a contract of marriage.

Minors sixteen (16) and seventeen (17) years of age are prohibited from entering into a contract of marriage with a person of the age of majority where there is an age difference of three years or greater between them.

A minor sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age may not enter into a matrimonial agreement without judicial authorization AND the written concurrence of his father and mother, or of the parent having legal custody, or of the tutor of his person.

A twenty-four (24) hour waiting period is required between the time of license purchase and the performance of the ceremony per Act 276. A waiver for this 24 hour waiting period may be obtained from a District Judge or Justice of the Peace.

License may be used in any parish in the state.

A Covenant Marriage requires additional premarital counseling and two documents: declaration of intent and affidavit signed by couple, counselor and notary.

Licenses may be purchased from the Clerk of Court's office on weekdays, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office is closed on Saturday and Sunday. If purchasing a certified copy of a Louisiana birth certificate, please allow extra time.

The marriage license is valid for thirty (30) days.

Ministers are required to register with the Clerk of Court according to Act 229 of 1952.

The fee for a marriage license is $27.50, which must be paid by cash or money order.

Louisiana Covenant Marriage Information

LSA-R.S. 9:272

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, are as follows:

  1. The couple legally agrees to seek marital counseling if problems develop during the marriage.
  2. 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:

  1. 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
    • The couple must also obtain premarital counseling from a priest, minister, rabbi or similar clergyperson of any religious sect or a marriage counselor.
  2. After discussing the meaning of a Covenant Marriage with a 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;
    • The commitment to the marriage is for life;
    • The obligation of the couple to seek marital counseling if problems arise in their marriage
    • The exclusive grounds for divorce or legal separation.
  3. 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 to 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 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
  • 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 or her 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
  • 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 if the separation was granted for abuse of a child of 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 an affidavit similar to those described here, 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 declaration of intent, shall be filed with the officer who issues marriage licenses in the parish of the couple's domicile.