Politics & Government

County Clerks Ready to Go After Supreme Court Refuses to Halt California Weddings

The San Mateo County Clerk will be open Monday in Redwood City beginning at 8 a.m. to issue marriage licenses to all.

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Written by L.A. Chung

It was a momentary cloud over the giddy, joyous weekend that resounded from the San Francisco Bay, over the pink triangle installed Friday on Twin Peaks to Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

The sponsors of Prop. 8 filed an emergency petition with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, challenging the lifting of the stay on same-sex weddings by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Friday. The stay had been the last thing standing in the way of weddings resuming in California, following the U.S. Supreme Court's historic decision Wednesday that took no stand on the merits of California's ban on same-sex marriage, leaving a lower court's decision that overturned Proposition 8 to stand.

By Sunday morning, when Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy refused to hear that last-dich appeal to halt the weddings in California, the weekend of celebration was complete.

On Monday, San Mateo's County Clerk's Office in Redwood City will open at 8 a.m., the first full day of business since Friday afternoon's lifting of the stay.
Residents wishing to obtain their marriage licenses in San Mateo County can prepare by making sure they have the requisite information at the ready, and have filled out an online form ahead of time.

The following information about marriage licenses is from the County Clerk's page:

Marriage licenses must be obtained in person at the San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder's Office, Clerk's Division. The County Clerk is located at 555 County Center, First Floor, Redwood City, CA 94063-1665, telephone (650) 363-4500. 

Office hours for marriage licenses are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday - we do not make appointments.  The process for a marriage license may take 30 minutes depending on several factors, such as whether you have completed the online form prior to coming into the office or if you do this process in our office.  Also, there may be other people in line.  Please allow yourself enough time.

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  • The couple must both be present to obtain the license. Both individuals must present a government-issued picture identification, either a driver's license or passport. Please note that blood tests are no longer required in the state of California.

  • Cost of the public marriage license is $78.00(cost of a confidential marriage license is $80 and this marriage must take place in San Mateo County). The fee must be paid by cash or credit/debit card (Visa or Mastercard only). The fee for a certified copy of the marriage is not included in the fee for the marriage license.

  • You must be married within 90 days of the date the license was issued and you may be married anywhere in the state of California. 

  • If either has been divorced within 90 days of obtaining their license they must present the final dissolution of marriage document. 

  • You may be married by a priest, rabbi, minister or other authorized person of your choice, or by a Deputy Marriage Commissioner in a civil ceremony in the County Clerk's Chapel.  Please see our Civil Wedding Ceremony Information page for further information.
    • Married name: The Name Equality Act of 2007 changed California's marriage law about married names. Couples will have to give some thought to what their married legal name will be - and it will be important do so before applying for a license.

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