An Act To Update the Laws Regarding Death and Marriage Records
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1803
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: HYMANSON
Amends: 19-A MRSA §650, 19-A MRSA §651, 19-A MRSA §652, 19-A MRSA §653, 19-A MRSA §654, 19-A MRSA §701, 22 MRSA §2842

Legislative Document
No. 1803
H.P. 1284
House of Representatives, May 30, 2019
An Act To Update the Laws Regarding Death and Marriage 
Records
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative HYMANSON of York.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  19-A MRSA §650, first ¶, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 65, §2, is amended 
to read:
All municipal clerks, the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and courts of this State 
shall have a duty and shall be are legally required to construe the provisions of Maine's 
marriage laws in accordance with the following findings and purposes:
Sec. 2.  19-A MRSA §650, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 65, §2, is 
amended to read:
A.  The union of one man and one woman 2 people joined in traditional a 
monogamous marriage is of inestimable value to society; the State has a compelling 
interest to nurture and promote the unique institution of traditional monogamous 
marriage in the support of harmonious families and the physical and mental health of 
children; and that the State has the compelling interest in promoting the moral values 
inherent in traditional a monogamous marriage.
Sec. 3.  19-A MRSA §650, sub-§2, ¶¶A to C, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 65, §2, 
are amended to read:
A.  To encourage the traditional a monogamous family unit as the basic building 
block of our society, the foundation of harmonious and enriching family life;
B.  To nurture, sustain and protect the traditional a monogamous family unit in Maine 
society, its moral imperatives, its economic function and its unique contribution to 
the rearing of healthy children; and
C.  To support and strengthen traditional monogamous Maine families against 
improper interference from out-of-state influences or edicts.
Sec. 4.  19-A MRSA §651, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 574, §2, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Place of recording.  Residents of the State intending to be joined in marriage 
shall record notice of their intentions in the office of the clerk of the municipality in 
which at least one of them resides or with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  If only 
one of the parties resides in the State, the parties shall record notice of their intentions in 
the office of the clerk of the municipality in which the resident party resides or with the 
State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  If there is no clerk in the place of their residence, the 
notice must be filed with the clerk of an adjoining municipality or with the State Registrar 
of Vital Statistics.  If both parties to a marriage reside outside the State, they must file 
intentions in any municipal office or with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  Once the 
intentions are filed and the license is issued, the parties are free to marry anywhere within 
the State.
Sec. 5.  19-A MRSA §651, sub-§2, as repealed and replaced by PL 2013, c. 424, 
Pt. B, §5, is amended to read:
2.  Application.  The parties wishing to record notice of their intentions of marriage 
shall submit an application for recording notice of their intentions of marriage.  The 
application may be issued to any 2 persons otherwise qualified under this chapter 
regardless of the sex of each person if the clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics is 
satisfied as to the identity of the applicants.  The application must include a signed 
certification that the information recorded on the application is correct and that the 
applicant is free to marry according to the laws of this State.  The applicant's signature 
must be acknowledged before an official authorized to take oaths.  An application 
recording notice of intention to marry is not open for public inspection for 50 years from 
the date of the application except that:
A.  The names of the parties for whom intentions to marry are filed and the intended 
date of marriage are public records and open for public inspection; and
B.  A person with a researcher identification card under Title 22, section 2706, 
subsection 8 is permitted to inspect records and may be issued a noncertified copy of 
an application.
Sec. 6.  19-A MRSA §651, sub-§§3 and 4, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, 
§2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, are amended to read:
3.  Related parties.  If the parties recording notice of their intentions to marry are 
related as described in section 701, subsection 2, the parties shall submit to the clerk or 
the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, at the time of recording their intentions to marry, a 
certificate from a physician stating that the parties have received genetic counseling from 
the physician.  The physician making the certification required by this subsection shall 
sign the certificate.
4.  Prior marriages.  Persons recording notice of intention to marry, either of whom 
has been previously married, shall submit with the application a certificate or certified 
copy of the divorce decree or annulment of the last marriage or the death record of the 
last spouse.  If both have been previously married, both shall submit the certificates or 
certified copies.  The clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall make a notation on 
the reverse side of the application under subsection 2 showing the title and location of the 
courts, the names of the parties to the proceeding for the divorces or annulments and the 
date when the decrees became absolute.  In the case of a death of a former spouse, the 
clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall show the name of the deceased along with 
the date and place of death.
Sec. 7.  19-A MRSA §651, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read:
6.  Resident defined.  For the purposes of this chapter, "resident" means a person 
whose habitation is fixed in a place within this State and to which that person, whenever 
temporarily absent, has the intention to return.  A person is a resident of a municipality if 
the place of habitation is within that particular municipality.  The clerk of a municipality 
or the State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall consider a person who qualifies as a resident 
under Title 21-A, section 112 for voting purposes a resident for the purposes of this 
chapter.
Sec. 8.  19-A MRSA §652, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 574, §3, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Marriage license issued.  After the filing of notice of intentions of marriage, 
except as otherwise provided, the clerk or the State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall 
deliver to the parties a marriage license specifying the time when the intentions were 
recorded.
Sec. 9.  19-A MRSA §652, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and 
affected by Pt. E, §2, is amended to read:
3.  Void after 90 days.  The license is void if not used within 90 days from the day 
the intentions were filed in the offices of the municipal clerks as specified in accordance 
with section 651.
Sec. 10.  19-A MRSA §652, sub-§§6 and 7, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. 
B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, are amended to read:
6.  Related parties.  A marriage license may not be issued to parties related as 
described in section 701, subsection 2, unless the clerk or State Registrar of Vital 
Statistics has received from the parties the physician's certificate of genetic counseling 
required by section 651.
7.  Parties under 18 years of age.  A marriage license may not be issued to persons 
under 18 years of age without the written consent of their parents, guardians or persons to 
whom a court has given custody.  In the absence of persons qualified to give consent, the 
judge of probate in the county where each minor resides may grant consent after notice 
and opportunity for hearing.  When 2 licenses are required and when either or both 
applicants for a marriage license are under the ages specified in this section, the written 
consent must be given for the issuance of both licenses in the presence of the clerk 
issuing the licenses or by acknowledgment under seal filed with that clerk.
Sec. 11.  19-A MRSA §652, sub-§8, as amended by PL 1997, c. 683, Pt. E, §5 
and affected by §6, is further amended to read:
8.  Parties under 16 years of age.  The clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics 
may not issue a marriage license to a person under 16 years of age without:
A.  The written consent of that minor's parents, guardians or persons to whom a court 
has given custody;
B.  Notifying the judge of probate in the county in which the minor resides of the 
filing of this intention; and
C.  Receipt of that judge of probate's written consent to issue the license.  The judge 
of probate shall base a decision on whether to issue consent on the best interest of the 
parties under 16 years of age and shall consider the age of both parties and any 
criminal record of a party who is 18 years of age or older.  The judge of probate, in 
the interest of public welfare, may order, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that 
a license not be issued.  The judge of probate shall issue a decision within 30 days of 
receiving the notification under paragraph B.
Sec. 12.  19-A MRSA §653, sub-§§1 and 2, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. 
B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, are amended to read:
1.  Filing; enter notice.  A person who believes that parties are about to contract 
marriage when either of them can not lawfully do so may file a caution and the reasons 
for the caution in the office of the clerk where notice of their intentions is required to be 
filed or with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  If either party applies to enter notice 
of their intentions, the clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall withhold the license 
until the judge of probate from the county involved approves the marriage.
2.  Procedure.  Before the judge of probate may approve a marriage, the court must 
give due notice and an opportunity to be heard to all concerned parties.  The judge of 
probate shall determine whether the parties may lawfully contract marriage within 7 days 
unless the judge of probate certifies that further time is necessary for that purpose.  In that 
case, a license must be withheld until the expiration of the certified time.  The clerk or 
State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall deliver or withhold the license in accordance with 
the final decision of the judge of probate.
Sec. 13.  19-A MRSA §654, sub-§§2 and 4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 111, §1, 
are further amended to read:
2.  Return of marriage license.  The person who solemnized the marriage shall 
return the marriage license to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics or the clerk  who 
issued the license within 7 working days following the date on which the marriage is 
solemnized by that person.  The clerk and the State Registrar of Vital Statistics each shall 
retain a copy of the license.
4.  Recorded by clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  The clerk or State 
Registrar of Vital Statistics shall record all marriage licenses returned under this section.
Sec. 14.  19-A MRSA §701, sub-§4, as repealed and replaced by PL 2007, c. 695, 
Pt. C, §4, is amended to read:
4.  Polygamy.  A marriage contracted while either party has a living wife or husband 
spouse from whom the party is not divorced is void.
Sec. 15.  19-A MRSA §701, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6.  Marriage void.  A marriage contracted when either party has failed to submit a 
certificate or certified copy of the divorce decree or annulment of the last marriage or the 
death record of the last spouse or when either party has intentionally lied about the 
number of previous marriages is void.
Sec. 16.  22 MRSA §2842, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5.  Correction of certificate of death.  A certificate of death filed in accordance with 
this section may be completed or amended at any time by means described in rules 
adopted by the department.  The health care provider who certified the death in 
accordance with subsection 2-A may sign the forms, submit an electronic amendment or 
file a certificate using the electronic death registration system in accordance with section 
2847.  A health care provider may amend a certificate of death with respect to the time, 
date, place and circumstances of death.  Forms or electronic amendments may be filed at 
any time after death.
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes to the laws governing marriage records and the filing, 
correction and amendment of death records, including removing language from the 
statutes that describes marriage as the union of a man and a woman to conform with the 
laws in the State.  This bill also authorizes people to record their intentions to marry with 
the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.