How to Become a Legal Wedding Officiant in Indiana

Indiana requires the couple and the officiant to be physically present at the ceremony, as it does not recognize marriage by proxy. The couple must also declare that they accept the marriage, which usually happens during the “I want” exchange. Indiana does not require witnesses to make a ceremony legal. There is an exhaustive list of people that the state of Indiana allows to perform wedding ceremonies. This includes state and local elected officials, as well as judges and employees. It also includes a wide range of clergy and religious leaders, including priests, ministers, bishops and archbishops, imams and rabbis. Other religious actors explicitly mentioned in the state code include duly authorized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, German Baptists, and followers of the Church of Friends or the Baha`i Faith. To get married legally in Indiana, you usually need to be at least 18 years old. There are some exceptions for minors in certain circumstances. A person over the age of 17 may marry with the consent of a parent or guardian. A minor who is at least 15 years of age and also pregnant may apply to the court for a marriage certificate.

Although state law allows out-of-state couples to marry on Indiana soil, there are additional costs. If neither you nor your future spouse are Indiana residents, the state will charge a $60 fee to get your marriage license. You may have to pay an extra $2 for the deposit in some countries. Out-of-state couples must obtain their licenses from an employee in the county where the marriage will take place. On the other hand, if you or your spouse is an Indiana resident, the royalty drops to $18. After the ceremony, it is time for the officiant to complete both copies of the marriage certificate with the date and county where the marriage certificate was issued, the time and place of the ceremony, the name and addresses of you and your spouse, and the name of the official. He then has 30 days after the ceremony to return it to the clerk of the district court, but no later. To learn more about preparing for the wedding ceremony, including writing a script for the wedding ceremony, visit the officiant training on the American Marriage Ministries website.

Read on to learn more about the official`s legal responsibilities regarding the marriage certificate. Thanks for reading and get started! To learn more about how to be ordained online and how to celebrate marriages, visit American Marriage Ministries. Your only legal responsibility as a marriage agent in Indiana is to sign the marriage certificate for the couple. This is a simple bureaucratic process that is not really different from signing any other type of legal contract. 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. At Universal Life Church, we receive several calls from wedding leaders in Indiana after obtaining their marriage license by ordering online and asking for advice on how to perform a wedding ceremony.

Once the legal issues are settled, planning a wedding (although it can be a daunting task) can be a lot of fun. We suggest that new Indiana wedding ministers who are worried about the ceremony read one of our helpful wedding guides. The “Ministerial Training” section of our website should provide a useful reminder for more experienced clergy. Congratulations! If you are on this page, it is likely that you are planning to get married or that you have been asked to perform a wedding ceremony in Indiana. Ordained ministers of the Church of Universal Life have successfully contracted thousands of legal marriages in Indiana. The following information will guide you through the steps to become a minister and perform a valid wedding ceremony in the state of Indiana. This is where the pen finally meets the paper. As an officiant, you must complete your part of the marriage certificate. When you`re done, you`ll need to sign it with the couple and two adult witnesses (they`ll also need to sign the marriage certificate). You`ll be surprised to hear this, but wedding leaders in Indiana don`t need to register with a government office before getting married. The Indiana state government has no laws requiring official registration or an office for official marriage registration.

Indiana has a law (Indiana Code § IC 31-11-6-1) 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 Indiana. If you have been asked to officiate a wedding in Indiana, get ordered with AMM today! Ordination with AMM is quick, free and easy. To learn more about how to be ordained in Indiana with AMM, visit our Getting Ordained in Indiana page. Indiana allows religious organizations to preside over marriage ceremonies by clergy or leaders of any faith or affiliation, governors, lieutenant governors, employees, mayors, judges, and members of the General Assembly. Clergy ordained by Universal Life Church are religious actors and can legally hold wedding ceremonies in the state, regardless of religion or gender. 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. 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. If you haven`t already, you should be ordained online at Universal Life Church. Ordination is free and can be completed in minutes.

Thousands of legal marriages are celebrated each year by ULC ministers around the world. Start the process by clicking on the big blue button below! How are you ordained to perform wedding ceremonies for your friends and family in Indiana? Ordination is simple, legal, inexpensive and only takes a few minutes! Click here to get started. Although there are no official registration requirements in Indiana, you must be an ordained minister to legally solemnize the marriage. Local Indiana regulations require that wedding officials be ordained under the designation of “minister” by a religious organization such as American Marriage Ministries. While you don`t need to register as a marriage official at an Indiana government office, it`s a good idea to keep personal records of your official department ID cards. Proof of your ordination is essential if the couple, government officials, or the place of marriage request proof of your ordination. We recommend that you order your Indiana Minister`s Ordination Package to receive your official identification cards. Your kit contains your official certificate of ordination and your letter of good reputy. His reputable letter is signed, dated and notarized by a church official. Your ministerial ordination package also includes your AMM Ministerial Manual, a valuable resource for information on formal training.

A portion of the proceeds of your order will go to our charitable activities. So not only do you get your AMM service rights, but you also support a good cause. At the crossroads of America, weddings mostly take place in spring and fall, when temperatures are accommodating and Indiana`s historic beauty shines. It`s always important to plan ahead, but especially in Indiana. There are many remarkable places that Indiana has to offer, and couples can choose whether their special day should be in a beautiful rustic barn, a field at dusk, or a lake in the fall. With so many events taking place throughout the year, you can even plan a dream wedding alongside a memorable and exciting concert, a noisy parade at noon, or an exciting street party knowing you`ll sleep well.