Current Code Overview for Marriage Celebrants, Officiants, and Ministers
(a) Domestic partners are two adults who have chosen to share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring.
(b) A domestic partnership shall be established in California when both persons file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State pursuant to this division, and, at the time of filing, all of the following requirements are met:
(1) Neither person is married to someone else or is a member of another domestic partnership with someone else that has not been terminated, dissolved, or adjudged a nullity.
(2) The two persons are not related by blood in a way that would prevent them from being married to each other in this state.
(3) Both persons are at least 18 years of age, except as provided in Section 297.1.
(4) Both persons are capable of consenting to the domestic partnership.
[Text Superseded and Removed]
VOID / SUPERSEDED: Section 308.5, which historically defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, is fully superseded by the United States Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges and the California constitutional amendment (Proposition 3) confirming that marriage is a fundamental right regardless of sex or gender.(a) Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between two persons, to which the consent of the parties capable of making that contract is necessary. Consent alone does not constitute marriage. Consent must be followed by the issuance of a license and solemnization as authorized by this division, except as provided by Section 425 and Part 4 (commencing with Section 500).
(b) For purposes of this part, the document issued by the county clerk is a marriage license until it is registered with the county recorder, at which time the license becomes a marriage certificate.
(a) Clergy Authorization & Protections: Although marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil, and not a religious, contract, a marriage may be solemnized by a priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination who is 18 years of age or older. A person authorized by this subdivision shall not be required to solemnize a marriage that is contrary to the tenets of the person’s faith. Refusal to solemnize a marriage under this subdivision, either by an individual or by a religious denomination, shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any entity.
(b) Judicial & Civil Officers: Consistent with Section 94.5 of the Penal Code and provided that any compensation received is reasonable, including payment of actual expenses, a marriage may also be solemnized by any of the following persons: (1) A judge or retired judge, commissioner/retired commissioner of civil marriages, or assistant commissioner of a court of record in this state; (2) A judge or magistrate who has resigned from office; (3) Judicial officers of the United States including Supreme Court Justices, Court of Appeals/District Court judges, Bankruptcy or Tax Court judges, and U.S. Magistrates.
(c) Legislative & Elected Officials: Except as provided in subdivision (d), a marriage may also be solemnized by any of the following persons who are 18 years of age or older: (1) A Member of the Legislature, constitutional officer, or Member of Congress representing a district within California (including former members); (2) Any person holding or who formerly held elected office in a city, county, or city and county; (3) A city clerk of a charter city or serving in accordance with the Government Code while holding office.
(d) Restrictions: (1) A person listed in subdivision (c) shall not accept compensation for solemnizing a marriage while holding office. (2) A person listed in subdivision (c) shall not solemnize a marriage if they have been removed from office due to committing an offense or have been convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, or fraud.
(a) No particular form for the ceremony of marriage is required for solemnization of the marriage, but the parties shall declare, in the physical presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and necessary witnesses, that they take each other as spouses.
(b) Military Proxy Exception: Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is stationed overseas and serving in a conflict or a war and is unable to appear for the licensure and solemnization of the marriage may enter into that marriage by the appearance of an attorney in fact, commissioned and empowered in writing... The attorney in fact shall personally appear at the county clerk’s office with the party who is not stationed overseas and present the original power of attorney... The original power of attorney shall be a part of the marriage certificate upon registration.
(c) Religious Freedoms: A contract of marriage, if otherwise duly made, shall not be invalidated for want of conformity to the requirements of any religious sect.
Before solemnizing a marriage, the person solemnizing the marriage shall require the presentation of the marriage license. If the person solemnizing the marriage has reason to doubt the correctness of the statement of facts in the marriage license, the person must be satisfied as to the correctness of the statement of facts before solemnizing the marriage. For this purpose, the person may administer oaths and examine the parties and witnesses in the same manner as the county clerk does before issuing the license.
The person solemnizing a marriage shall sign and print or type upon the marriage license a statement, in the form prescribed by the State Department of Public Health, showing all of the following:
(a) The fact, date (month, day, year), and place (city and county) of solemnization.
(b) The printed names, signatures, and mailing addresses of at least one, and no more than two, witnesses to the ceremony.
(c) The official position of the person solemnizing the marriage, or of the denomination of which that person is a priest, minister, rabbi, or other authorized person of any religious denomination.
(d) The person solemnizing the marriage shall also type or print their name and mailing address.
(a) The person solemnizing the marriage shall return the marriage license, endorsed as required in Section 422, to the county recorder of the county in which the license was issued within 10 days after the ceremony.
(b) For purposes of Section 102356 of the Health and Safety Code, the person solemnizing the marriage shall include with the marriage license described in subdivision (a) a copy of the court order granting permission to marry described in Section 304, if one or both of the parties to the marriage were minors at the time of solemnization of the marriage.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent... duly ordained members of the recognized clergy, as defined in Section 15610.19 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or duly ordained religious practitioners from doing work of a psychological nature consistent with the laws governing their respective professions, provided they do not hold themselves out to the public by any title or description of services incorporating the words “psychological,” “psychologist,” “psychology,” “psychometrist,” “psychometrics,” or “psychometry,” or that they do not state or imply that they are licensed to practice psychology...
(b) This chapter shall not apply to any priest, rabbi, or minister of the gospel of any religious denomination when performing counseling services as part of their pastoral or professional duties, or to any person who is admitted to practice law in the state, or a physician and surgeon who provides counseling services as part of their professional practice.
(a) For the purposes of this chapter, the practice of marriage and family therapy shall mean the application of psychotherapeutic and family systems theories, principles, and methods in the delivery of services to individuals, couples, or groups in order to assess, evaluate, and treat relational issues, emotional disorders, behavioral problems, mental illness, alcohol and substance use, and to modify intrapersonal and interpersonal behaviors.
(b) The application of marriage and family therapy principles and methods includes, but is not limited to: assessment, evaluation, prognosis, treatment planning, individual/relationship/family therapeutic interventions, relational therapy, psychotherapy, client education, clinical case management, consultation, and supervision.
(e) “Advertising”... includes, but is not limited to, any public communication... the issuance of any card, sign, or device... or the causing, permitting, or allowing of any sign or marking on, or in, any building... or in any newspaper, magazine, directory, or any printed matter whatsoever... Signs within religious buildings or notices in bulletins from a religious organization mailed to a congregation are not advertising within the meaning of this chapter.
A person engages in the practice of marriage and family therapy when he or she performs or offers to perform or holds himself or herself out as able to perform this service for remuneration in any form, including donations.
Operational Safeguard: Because accepting donations for family or relationship structural support can legally push an activity into regulated "clinical practice," ministers must explicitly frame their support as pastoral guidance, spiritual counseling, or premarital fellowship rather than clinical therapy.
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