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Chatham County exact answer

How long is a marriage license valid in Chatham County?

This answer belongs to the issuing office and task named above. It does not substitute a statewide summary or infer a rule the office does not publish.

Direct answer

In Chatham County, georgia fixes this by statute, not county by county, and the statute sets no expiry. Code Section 19-3-30(c) provides that the license itself authorizes the marriage and fixes the only deadline the chapter contains — 30 days after the ceremony for the officiant to return the license for recording. That clock starts at the ceremony, not at issuance, so there is no validity window to express as a number of days and the ceremony-date planner has no outer boundary to draw. The Probate Court publishes nothing either way; the separate return deadline after the ceremony still applies.

Published rule and conditions

Marriage license validity

This does not apply here.

No such requirement appears in the state statute that governs how a marriage is made here. The office itself publishes nothing either way.

Georgia fixes this by statute, not county by county, and the statute sets no expiry. Code Section 19-3-30(c) provides that the license itself authorizes the marriage and fixes the only deadline the chapter contains — 30 days after the ceremony for the officiant to return the license for recording. That clock starts at the ceremony, not at issuance, so there is no validity window to express as a number of days and the ceremony-date planner has no outer boundary to draw. The Probate Court publishes nothing either way; the separate return deadline after the ceremony still applies.

Not applicable here

such license shall authorize the marriage of the persons therein named and require the Governor or any former Governor of this state, judge, city recorder, magistrate, minister, or other authorized person to return the license to the judge of the probate court with the certificate thereon as to the fact and date of marriage within 30 days after the date of the marriage

Issuing office

Chatham County Probate Court

Open the issuing office

Official sources for this answer

  • Senate Bill 238 (As Passed) — enacted text of O.C.G.A. § 19-3-30(c), issuance, return, and recording of licenseGeorgia General Assembly (Senate Bill 238, 2009-2010 Regular Session, 2010 Act 439) - checked July 30, 2026

    "To amend Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to marriage license and ceremony ... '(c) The license shall be directed to the Governor or any former Governor of this state, any judge, including judges of state and federal courts of record in this state, city recorder, magistrate, minister, or other person of any religious society or sect authorized by the rules of such society to perform the marriage ceremony; such license shall authorize the marriage of the persons therein named and require the Governor or any former Governor of this state, judge, city recorder, magistrate, minister, or other authorized person to return the license to the judge of the probate court with the certificate thereon as to the fact and date of marriage within 30 days after the date of the marriage. The license with the return thereon shall be recorded by the judge in a book kept by such judge for that purpose.'" Nothing in the subsection fixes a period after issuance within which the ceremony must take place, and the 30 day clock it does fix runs from the date of the marriage.

  • Summary of General Statutes Enacted at the 2010 Session of the Georgia General AssemblyGeorgia General Assembly, Office of Legislative Counsel - checked July 30, 2026

    "Act 439; SB 238. This Act authorizes the Governor or any former Governor of this state to perform marriage ceremonies. The Act amends O.C.G.A. Sections 19-3-30, 19-3-39, 19-3-42, 19-3-46, and 19-3-48." Used together with the Office's companion summaries for every session from 2006 through 2026, each of which indexes every Code section amended that session: no summary after 2010 lists Code Section 19-3-30, which is how the enacted text cited here was confirmed to be the current text.

Answer boundary

MarriageLicenseCheck is an independent reference, not the issuing office or legal advice. Applicant facts, timing, prior marriages, and document type can change the result. The official office decides what it will accept.

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