Who Can Legally Officiate a Wedding in Michigan

In Michigan, as in most states, the age at which a person can legally marry without the consent of a parent or guardian is 18. Although no one under the age of 16 can enter into a prenuptial agreement, people can marry at the age of 16 or 17 with the consent of at least one parent or guardian. With all this out of the way, you are now ready to celebrate the wedding! If you would like instructions in this area, please use the tools below. These resources provide useful information and advice on all the important aspects of managing a wedding. Designed for our wedding officials, they contain everything you need to plan an unforgettable wedding ceremony. We hope this better explains the legal basis for which you absolutely have the right to hold wedding ceremonies in Michigan as an ordained minister online. As long as you are a member of a religious institution that gives you the authority to solemnize marriage, you can leave. So what are you waiting for? You`ll be surprised to hear this, but Michigan wedding officials don`t have to register with a government office before getting married. The Michigan state government has no laws that require official registration or an office for the registration of marriage officials. Michigan has a law (Michigan Compiled Laws ¢§ 551.7) that determines who can solemnize marriage.

This includes all clergy, including online ordained ministers of U.S. marriage departments. However, there are no laws, offices or procedures that require civil servants to register with a government office. Simply put, once you`re an online ordained minister of U.S. marriage ministries, you immediately have the legal ability to perform marriages anywhere in Michigan. If you have been asked to perform a wedding in Michigan, be ordained with AMM today! Ordination with AMM is quick, free and easy. To learn more about how to be ordained in Michigan with MAID, visit our Ordaining in Michigan page. As a wedding venue, Michigan has a lot to offer. There are over 16,000 square miles of largely pristine wilderness on the Upper Peninsula and over 3,000 miles of freshwater coastline throughout the state, not to mention fall colors almost everywhere you go in the fall. Another advantage is that marriage laws in Michigan are relatively easy to understand.

The following guide can make it even easier for you and your minister to make sure you are following the regulations. Of course, just because you know the official law of who can officiate doesn`t mean it`s easy to choose someone to do it. This is what the bride and groom must discover. Other people qualified to preside over a marriage are judges, judges, or a mayor of a Michigan city. While the majority of marriages are started by ministers, a government official is also an effective option for celebrating a wedding. We will guide you through the process, both legally and ceremonially, of your role as a wedding official. Check out our How to Celebrate Weddings page to get started. Here we cover the important things you need to do as a public servant, such as the best way to prepare for a wedding ceremony and write the wedding ceremony. For more information, we recommend visiting the official website of American Marriage Ministries. Here you will find the most comprehensive official training material you can find online.

A person must be 18 years old to perform a marriage in Michigan. Michigan grants several people the power to solemnize a marriage, including mayors, judges, magistrates, ministers, employees, and some religious practitioners. People who have received their ordination certificate from Universal Life Church also have the power to solemnize marriages, regardless of gender, personal beliefs, or place of residence. Ministers must submit letters of good standing and their certificates of ordination to the District Clerk prior to the ceremony. Once you have obtained the license, you must provide it to the official who will officiate your marriage. Within 10 days of the ceremony, the officer must complete it and return it to the clerk of the issuing county. If the process of planning, scripting, and organizing a wedding is intimidating, you need our suite of Wedding Helper tools. We`ve gathered years of experience into an easy-to-use platform with training materials, quizzes, a custom ceremonial script generator, and tips for preparing to celebrate the wedding, all accessible through your pastor profile. This is just the beginning. After the wedding, you can share your wedding on the AMM wedding wall with our national network of ministers. Some individuals who identify as secular officiants, but are not certified by the CFI Lay Officiants Program, may have the opportunity to legally perform marriages in Michigan. It is the officiant`s responsibility to maintain and assert his or her authority to solemnize marriages with the state.

These people may include those who are (or have been) a minister, priest or rabbi, etc. Those who are ordained/certified by religious organizations such as the Humanist Society (founded in the Quaker tradition), the Society for Humanistic Judaism (Jewish), or the Church of Universal Life Monastery (non-denominational) are also referred to as “gospel preachers” under Michigan law. These secular celebrants may offer to perform a wedding ceremony that has no religious content, but may only do so in their capacity as pastor of a religious organization. Michigan chooses to leave the details of the wedding ceremony or its absence to the couple. Couples can enjoy a large religious gathering, a small informal ceremony, or something in between if they wish. The only condition is that the parties express their desire to adopt someone else as husband or wife before a presiding judge or minister and at least two witnesses present, both of whom are of full age, and that the Minister declare the parties married. To see the detailed marriage laws for the state of Michigan: If you`re thinking about getting ordained online to perform marriages in Michigan, then you`ve come to the right place. The first thing you need to know is that it is 100% legal for you to be ordained online in Michigan to perform weddings. Read on to learn more about why online ordinations are legal in Michigan and how you can be ordained to perform marriages anywhere in the state. Many people who are ordained online have never celebrated a wedding. We know this can sound daunting and have anticipated your need to understand the whole process. Our mission is not only to enable you to officiate weddings, but to do so with competence, confidence and a little style.

Federal, district, municipal, or estate judges or magistrates, mayors, county officials, and even clergy/religious practitioners may be asked to perform a ceremony without religious content, but be aware that it is not necessary for anyone in these positions to celebrate your marriage or a non-religious marriage. Judges and county clerks often have a defined script that offers little or no customization. However, many clergy in Unitarian churches, liberal Christian churches, humanist rabbis, or persons ordained pastors of the Church of Universal Life are often willing to perform marriages without religious content. For marriage to be legally binding, you and your future spouse must make a solemn declaration in front of two witnesses who are at least 18 years old and the presiding official that you wish to take the other as your spouse. The officiant then makes a statement celebrating the marriage.