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Chatham County exact answer

Is there a marriage license waiting period 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

There is no waiting period between issuance and the ceremony in Chatham County. Georgia fixes this by statute, not county by county. Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated — "marriage license and ceremony" — is the whole scheme for issuing a Georgia marriage license, and it interposes no interval anywhere: Code Section 19-3-36 directs that applicants who have proved they have reached the age of majority may be issued the license immediately, and Code Section 19-3-30(c) makes the license itself the authority for the marriage, the chapter's only deadline running for 30 days after the ceremony. The Probate Court publishes nothing either way. Its appointment-only intake is a scheduling constraint on when you can be seen, not a statutory wait before you can marry.

Published rule and conditions

Marriage license waiting period
None

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. Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated — "marriage license and ceremony" — is the whole scheme for issuing a Georgia marriage license, and it interposes no interval anywhere: Code Section 19-3-36 directs that applicants who have proved they have reached the age of majority may be issued the license immediately, and Code Section 19-3-30(c) makes the license itself the authority for the marriage, the chapter's only deadline running for 30 days after the ceremony. The Probate Court publishes nothing either way. Its appointment-only intake is a scheduling constraint on when you can be seen, not a statutory wait before you can marry.

Official requirement

Applicants who have satisfactorily proved that they have reached the age of majority may be issued a marriage license immediately.

Issuing office

Chatham County Probate Court

Open the issuing office

Official sources for this answer

  • House Bill 228 (As Passed House and Senate) — enacted text of O.C.G.A. § 19-3-36, proof of age of applicantsState of Georgia — Office of the Governor, signed legislation archive (House Bill 228, 2019 Act 187) - checked July 30, 2026

    "19-3-36. The judge of the probate court to whom the application for a marriage license is made shall satisfy himself or herself that the provisions set forth in Code Section 19-3-2 regarding age limitations are met. The judge shall require all applicants to furnish the court with documentary evidence of proof of age in the form of a birth certificate, driver's license, baptismal certificate, certificate of birth registration, selective service card, court record, passport, immigration papers, alien papers, citizenship papers, armed forces discharge papers, armed forces identification card, or hospital admission card containing the full name and date of birth. Applicants who have satisfactorily proved that they have reached the age of majority may be issued a marriage license immediately." The Office of Legislative Counsel's Summary of 2019 General Statutes records this as Act 187, effective July 1, 2019. The only later amendment of this Code section is 2025 Senate Bill 100, which replaces the phrase "certificate of birth" with "birth certificate" throughout and does not touch the sentence quoted. This is the Code section the Probate Court's own marriage page cites for accepted proof of age.

  • 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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