Getting a Lancaster County Marriage License
Marriage licenses in Lancaster County are issued by the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court. The office is led by Anne L. Cooper. It also handles probate, estates, inheritance tax, and adoptions, but a marriage license is its most-used public service. The Marriage Department sits on the second floor of the courthouse at 50 North Duke Street in the city of Lancaster. You start the process online, then finish it in person. There is no way to skip the in-person step.
The county wants you to file the online marriage license application first and pay by credit card when you submit it. Do not mail a payment. After you submit, you get a receipt by email. Then both applicants come to the office together for a short oral interview. The office runs these interviews from 9:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on weekdays when the courthouse is open. There are no appointments. You walk in during those hours.
A few rules shape who can get a license. Both applicants must be at least 18 years old. Blood relatives down to and including first cousins may not marry under Pennsylvania law. The browser matters too, since the application does not support Safari. If you cannot apply online, you bring your payment to the oral exam and apply in person.
Marriage Department
50 N. Duke St., 2nd Floor
Lancaster, PA 17602
Marriage Hotline 717-295-3533
Interviews 9:00 a.m.-3:45 p.m. weekdays
How to Apply for a Marriage License
The process has a clear order. Apply online, pay, then show up for the oral interview with the right papers. Bring your Social Security number to the interview. If you do not know it from memory, bring the original Social Security card. Bring a current government photo ID that shows your picture and an expiration date. The office can ask for more ID if needed. If you were married before, bring proof that the prior marriage ended.
- Fill out the online marriage license application. Skip Safari, since the form does not support that browser.
- Pay the application and license fee by credit card when you submit online. A small convenience fee applies. Do not mail the payment.
- Watch your email for the receipt that confirms the online submission.
- Go to the Marriage Department in person with the other applicant. Both of you must come together for the oral interview.
- Bring your Social Security number, a valid government photo ID, and any court-sealed divorce or annulment decree if you were married before.
- Answer the oral exam questions at the counter. The clerk reviews your information and issues the license.
- Wait for the license to take effect. It is valid on the third day after the oral exam.
Once issued, the license is valid for 60 days. It can be used in any Pennsylvania county, not just Lancaster. It is not valid outside Pennsylvania. Widows and widowers must give the date of death of the late spouse, but no death certificate is needed.
Note: A license issued by any Pennsylvania county can be used in any other Pennsylvania county, but it is invalid for a ceremony held outside the state.
Marriage License Application Fields
The application asks for the kind of details you would expect for a legal record. You give your full legal name, your age, and your Social Security number. You confirm you are old enough and not too closely related. If you were married before, you report how that marriage ended. The table below lists the main fields and what each one needs, drawn from the county's marriage rules.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full legal name (both applicants) | Yes | Each applicant gives a full legal name. |
| Age / proof of age | Yes | Both applicants must be at least 18. |
| Social Security number | Yes | Bring the original card if you do not know it from memory. |
| Government photo ID | Yes | Current ID with photo and expiration date; more ID may be asked for. |
| Prior marriage status | Yes | Report if you were married before and how it ended. |
| Divorce or annulment decree | Conditional | Court-sealed and signed copy if previously married; foreign-language decrees must be translated and notarized. |
| Date of death of late spouse | Conditional | Widows and widowers give the date; no death certificate needed. |
| Relationship confirmation | Yes | Blood relatives down to first cousins may not marry. |
The decree rule trips people up most. A divorce needs a decree that bears a court seal and signature. An annulment needs a court-sealed, signed annulment copy. Bring the real document, not a plain printout.
Lancaster County Marriage and Divorce Fees
Marriage fees are set and easy to plan for. The application and license cost $60. A certified copy of a marriage record costs $10. If you pay by credit or debit card, a $1.95 convenience fee is added. The office takes cash with exact change, certified checks, money orders, credit cards, and debit cards. It does not take personal checks. Divorce costs are different, since a divorce is a court filing handled by the Prothonotary, and those court costs are confirmed with that office.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application and license | $60 |
| Certified copy | $10 |
| Credit/debit convenience fee | $1.95 |
Members of the U.S. Armed Forces can get the certified-copy fee waived. The waiver covers the certified copy only, and you must show proof of service. For divorce filing costs and certified divorce copies, confirm the current amount with the Prothonotary before you mail any payment.
Note: The Marriage Department does not accept personal checks, so plan to pay with cash, a certified check, a money order, or a card.
How to Look Up Lancaster County Marriage Records
Marriage records in Lancaster County run through the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court. The same office that issues the license keeps the record of it. The county marriage page is the place to start, since it links the online application and explains the in-person steps. A clear lead-in helps here. The official county page shows the marriage license process and the Register of Wills contact details.
You can see the current marriage license process on the Lancaster County marriage license page.
That page lays out the online application, the oral interview hours, the fees, and the ID rules in one spot. To find a past marriage record, you will need the names of both applicants and the date of the marriage. The office handles Lancaster-issued licenses, so a license from another county is searched where it was issued.
How to Find Lancaster County Divorce Records
Divorce is not a vital record in Pennsylvania the way a marriage license is. It is a civil and family case, so it is filed with the Prothonotary, the county's civil record keeper. That means a divorce search starts on the civil side, not at the marriage counter. The Prothonotary runs the CountySuite Civil Public Search, which is free and open to the public. You search by party name or by case number, then open the matching case to read the docket.
Divorce cases show up under clear categories on the civil portal. A search can return a Complaint in Divorce, a Complaint in Annulment, a Complaint in Divorce and Custody, a Foreign Divorce Decree Filed, or an Election to Resume Name. Self-help divorce filings appear there too. The category and a filing date range help when a party name is common.
- Complaint in Divorce - the standard filing that opens a divorce case.
- Complaint in Annulment - a request to void a marriage rather than dissolve it.
- Complaint in Divorce and Custody - a divorce filed together with custody claims.
- Foreign Divorce Decree Filed - a divorce granted elsewhere and recorded in the county.
- Election to Resume Name - a request to take back a former name.
Some family details are limited or sealed, so a public search may not show everything in a file. For a certified divorce copy, you order it from the Prothonotary after you find the case. Pennsylvania divorce law and the local filing rules are worth checking before you file. People filing on their own can use the court self-help resources and the statewide court forms.
Getting a Certified Marriage Copy in Lancaster County
A certified copy is the version you need for legal use, such as a name change, a benefits claim, or proof of marriage. A printout from a screen is not the same thing. For a Lancaster-issued marriage license, the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court provides the certified copy. You can request one by mail, and the office needs a few things to find and return the record.
Send the names of both applicants and the date of the marriage. Include the $10 fee, made payable to the Clerk of Orphans' Court, unless a fee waiver applies. Add a self-addressed stamped envelope so the office can mail the copy back. The list below sums up what a certified marriage copy request needs.
- Names of both applicants on the Lancaster-issued license.
- The date of the marriage.
- A $10 payment payable to the Clerk of Orphans' Court.
- A self-addressed stamped envelope for the mailed return.
- Proof of U.S. Armed Forces service if you are claiming the fee waiver.
For a certified divorce copy, the request goes to the Prothonotary instead, since that office holds the civil file. Find the case in CountySuite first, then ask the Prothonotary for a certified copy and the current cost.