Get a Marriage License in Monroe County, NY
This service isn't handled by the County Clerk. Here's where to go instead.
A New York marriage license is issued by any town or city clerk (DRL § 13) — a license issued anywhere in NY is valid anywhere in NY, so apply at whichever town or city clerk is convenient. The fee is $40, and it is two charges rather than one: $30 for the license under DRL § 15(4), plus the Certificate of Marriage Registration under DRL § 14-a, which is “not exceeding ten dollars” and is fixed by each town board. $40 is therefore the most you will pay, not a fixed price — a town that sets the certificate below the cap charges less. There is a 24-hour waiting period after issuance (judicially waivable), and the license is valid 60 days beginning the day after issuance. Both parties appear in person with photo ID and proof of age. Where either party is a member of the uniformed services on active duty, the window is 180 days — that comes from Veterans’ Services Law § 10, not from the Domestic Relations Law, which only points at it; proof of service goes to the issuing clerk.
Where either applicant is on active duty, DRL § 15(4) says the clerk may not collect the $22.50 that would otherwise go to the State Commissioner of Health, and the town or city may waive the portion it keeps. Bring proof of service and ask — the license can cost substantially less than the figure above, and in some places nothing at all.
At least one witness. DRL § 12 says “in every case, at least one witness beside the clergyman, magistrate, or such one-day marriage officiant must be present at the ceremony”. That is a minimum of one and no maximum, and the statute sets no age for a witness — the 18-and-over rule people repeat is the New York City Clerk’s rule for ceremonies in its own offices, not state law. A town or city clerk may still have its own practice, so ask if your witness is under 18.
Anyone can be your officiant for a day. Under DRL § 11-d, “a town or city clerk shall issue a one-day marriage officiant license upon request” for a $25 fee. The officiant must be 18 or over, need not live in the town or even in New York, need not appear in person, applies at the same clerk’s office as the couple, and may solemnise the marriage anywhere in the state.
Quaker and other religious-society marriages are a separate route. The same DRL § 12 says the solemnization provisions “shall not affect marriages among the people called friends or quakers; nor marriages among the people of any other denominations having as such any particular mode of solemnizing marriages” — those “must be solemnized in the manner heretofore used and practiced in their respective societies” and are “as valid as if this article had not been enacted”. There is no officiant to stand beside, so the one-witness sentence above is not written for them. The license is still required — § 12 governs how a marriage is solemnized, not whether you need a license under § 13.
⚠️ This office does not process marriage licenses. Use the agency linked above. The office below is your county's County Clerk — useful for other services.
Getting married somewhere else in New York? See the New York marriage license guide for statewide requirements and fees.