An Act Concerning the Filing of Marriage Licenses and the
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0083
Sponsors: KUHN
Amends: 19-A MRSA §651, 19-A MRSA §652, 19-A MRSA §653, 19-A MRSA §654, 19-A MRSA §656, 19-A MRSA §660

Legislative Document
No. 83
H.P. 47
House of Representatives, January 8, 2025
An Act Concerning the Filing of Marriage Licenses and the 
Recording of Intentions as Part of the Electronic Vital Records 
System
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Received by the Clerk of the House on January 6, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative KUHN of Falmouth.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  19-A MRSA §651, sub-§2, as repealed and replaced by PL 2021, c. 49, §1, 
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.  If either party intends to change that party's name upon 
marriage, the application must include the proposed new name of that party.  The 
applicant's signature must be acknowledged before an official authorized to take oaths. The 
completed application must be attached to the marriage record in the electronic system 
specified by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  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. 2.  19-A MRSA §652, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2001, c. 354, §3 and PL 
2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is repealed.
Sec. 3.  19-A MRSA §653, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2019, c. 340, §12, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Filing; enter notice.  A person who believes that parties are about to contract 
marriage when either of them can not cannot 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. If the 
license has already been issued and the parties have not yet been married, the office of the 
clerk or the State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall notify the parties that they may not marry 
until the judge of probate from the county involved approves the marriage.
Sec. 4.  19-A MRSA §654, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2019, c. 340, §13, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Return of marriage license.  The parties or 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. If a marriage license is returned later than 90 working 
days following the date on which the marriage is solemnized, the marriage must be marked 
as a delayed filing.
Sec. 5.  19-A MRSA §654, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2019, c. 340, §13, is further 
amended to read:
4.  Recorded by clerk or State Registrar of Vital Statistics.  The clerk or State 
Registrar of Vital Statistics shall record all attach the completed marriage licenses returned 
under this section in the electronic system specified by the State Registrar of Vital 
Statistics.
Sec. 6.  19-A MRSA §656, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2021, c. 49, §2, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Completed license; ceremony performed.  Each marriage license issued must be 
completed and the certification statement signed by both parties to the intended marriage.  
The parties' signatures may be obtained at issuance or at the time the marriage is 
solemnized.  The completed license or licenses must be delivered by the parties to the 
person solemnizing the marriage.  Upon completion of the solemnization, which must be 
performed in the presence of at least 2 witnesses other than the person officiating, the 
person officiating and the 2 witnesses shall sign the license or licenses, which are then 
known as the marriage certificate or certificates, and the parties are considered legally 
married.
Sec. 7.  19-A MRSA §660, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 193, §1, is amended by 
amending the section headnote to read:
§660.  Late-filed Delayed application for certificate of marriage
Sec. 8.  19-A MRSA §660, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 193, §1, is amended by 
enacting a new first paragraph to read:
In order to provide an official record of statements concerning marriages that have 
occurred in this State, the State Registrar of Vital Statistics must accept a registration of 
any marriage for which no record can be found in either the files of the State Registrar of 
Vital Statistics or the clerk of the municipality where the marriage license was issued or in 
the municipality where the marriage occurred, as long as such registration is filed in 
accordance with this section.
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies requirements for parties applying for and filing marriage licenses, 
including registrations that have been delayed and for which there is no record, and aligns 
current practices by requiring electronic filing of those parties' intentions in the State’s vital 
records system. The bill also specifies that municipal clerks are no longer required to give 
to all marrying parties the Department of Health and Human Services' brochure about the 
effects of alcohol and drugs on a fetus.