Marriage Licenses

In order to obtain a marriage license, both parties contemplating marriage must be at least 18 years of age, present valid ID and respective social security numbers, and sign the marriage application under oath before the county clerk. Marriage licenses are valid for 60 days from the date of issue. Residents and non-residents of the state of West Virginia may apply for a license to be married in the state.

If either party has been previously married, the county clerk’s office will need to know the date and reason the marriage ended (i.e. divorce or death.) If a divorce has occurred in the past six months, a copy of the divorce decree is required. 

Application Fee: A fee of $57.00, payable by cash, credit card, or check to the Boone County Clerk, is due at the time of application. If the parties have participated in a premarital education course of at least four hours during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of the application for the license, they may pay a discounted license fee of $37.00 (WV Code 48-2-701).

Minors: Applicants who are 16 or 17 years of age must have consent from both parents or custodial parent (proof of custody is required.) Both parents must show ID and sign a consent form under oath before the county clerk. Birth certificates are required for both minor parties applying for the marriage license. If either or both of the applicants for a marriage license is under eighteen years of age, the clerk of the county commission may not issue a marriage license until two full days elapse after the day the license application is filed.

Any person under the age of 16 wishing to apply for marriage must also have an order from the circuit judge.

Marriage Certificates

As part of vital statistics record keeping, the Boone County Clerk records all marriages that occur in the county. West Virginia is not an “open record” state, therefore only certain individuals may obtain copies of marriage certificates.

The people who may obtain certified copies are:

  • The parties on the marriage certificate.
  • The children and grandchildren of the person on the certificate.

If you are an eligible person and wish to obtain a certified copy of a marriage certificate, you must have a valid photo ID. Payment of $5.00 per copy is due upon issuance of the certificate, payable by cash, credit card, or check to the Boone County Clerk.