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Recording Division~  Marriage

Obtaining A Marriage License | Requirements After the Marriage |
Judges & Magistrates Who Perform Ceremonies

Requirements After the Marriage

Notice to Applicants:

• The license must be used within 30 days from the date of issue and used only in the State of Colorado.
• You both need to sign where it says "Bride" & "Groom" at the lower right corner of the license.
• The officiating party is responsible for returning the license to the Clerk & Recorder's office.
• Once the license has been returned, it will be recorded and imaged in our Boulder office. The original license must be kept for at least three working days for imaging.
• If a certified copy of the license is needed immediately, the officiating party may let you bring the license in yourself to the Boulder office to be recorded. We can then issue a certified copy of the marriage license without the application, as required by most agencies, for $1.25 either the same day or the following workday. The original is kept for imaging.  Note:  The cost of a certified copy of a marriage license with an application, as requested by Social Security for name changing purposes, is $1.50.  It requires a notarized request form provided by the Clerk and Recorder's Office signed by either the bride or groom or an immediate family member.  Certified copies of a marriage license with the application can only be issued after the marriage application has been received and processed in the Boulder office, and the marriage license has been received and recorded.  The application may not be available until at least two working days after the issuance of the license.
• If you haven't received your marriage license from us a month after the ceremony, you should call our Boulder office, at 303-413-7770. We may not have received it from the officiating party.
• If for some reason the license is not used, it must be returned to our office. In this case, please send it to:

Boulder County Clerk & Recorder
Recording Division
1750 33rd. Street, Suite 201
Boulder, CO 80301-2549

Notice to Person Performing Marriage Ceremony:

• The license must be returned to the Clerk & Recorder's office promptly after the marriage ceremony.
• Be sure the bottom portion of the license is filled out entirely, and your signature appears at the bottom.
• Signatures of witnesses are not required in the State of Colorado.

To Obtain a Certified Copy of a Marriage License:

Your license will be recorded in the county in which you applied for the license, not necessarily the county in which the marriage took place. If the license was issued and recorded in Boulder County, you may obtain a certified copy either in person or by mail. The cost is $1.25 per certified copy of a marriage license without the application, as requested by most agencies.    If requesting by mail, submit the names of both bride and groom, the date of the ceremony, the address to which the copy should be mailed, and a check, payable to the Boulder County Clerk, for the amount due.  The mailing address is Boulder County Clerk & Recorder, 1750 33rd Street, Suite 201, Boulder, CO 80301-2549. 

The cost is $1.50 for a certified copy of a marriage license with the marriage application, as requested by Social Security for name change purposes, and requires a notarized request form signed by either party to the marriage or an immediate family member.  The form is available at http://www.co.boulder.co.us/clerk/recording/forms/recording.htm.  Click on Request for a Certified Copy of a Marriage License with a Copy of the Marriage Application.

Name Changes:

• The Bride can change her name any time after the ceremony. This decision doesn't need to be made when she signs the license.
• To change her name, the bride will need to contact Social Security and Driver's License Bureau.
• She will need proof of identity under both the old name and the new name. A certified copy of the marriage license and application is required by Social Security to change a name.   
• Social Security does not charge a fee for changing your name. Any solicitation to change your name that requests a fee is not from Social Security.

Social Security offices in the Denver Area:

Denver 1845 Sherman St., 5th floor, Columbine Bldg., Denver, CO 80203

Englewood 888 West Ithaca, Englewood, CO 80150

Lakewood 8585 West 14th Ave., Lakewood, CO 80215

Boulder 4949 Pearl East Cir #101, Boulder, CO 80301
 

Driver's License Bureau:

Diagonal Plaza, 28th & Iris, Boulder, CO 80301

For further Marriage License information, call 303-413-7776.