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NextChapterReady
Super October 2019

Marriage License Disaster

NextChapterReady, on October 3, 2019 at 2:33 PM Posted in Planning 0 9

I need some serious support today guys ... it has been a ROUGH two days Smiley sad

So we have 9 days to go till the wedding and because of county licenses expiring and the length of our honeymoon, we had to wait until closer to the wedding day to obtain our marriage license. Our priest does not submit them--we have to, and we'll be on a long honeymoon.

We went to the courthouse yesterday were super excited and the lady says, sorry I am not giving you anything today because your license is expired. Idiotic me forgot that my birthday was Saturday and apparently it's the year my license expires. SO THEN I had to drive to the DMV wait an hour for the new license and then go back to work (late Smiley sad )

So TODAY we go back to the courthouse and wait in line, get up to the front and give the girl my passport (they won't except my transition license and it takes two weeks to mail it to me--just in time for me to order a NEW one because I'm changing my name sigh) and FH gives her his ID. She accepts these, then asks if any of us have been married. FH says yes and gives her his Divorce Decree. She looks at it and says sorry I am not giving you a license because your Divorce Decree isn't certified. He literally requested one from his courthouse of his hometown county and that's what they sent him. So she told him, just go to the 22nd floor and have the magistrate certify this. It'll take five minutes.

So I wait in line and he comes back 5 minutes later and says the lady on the magistrate's floor said they were all in session today and they needed to stop sending people down to them. So we left.

I called the office to see when the magistrates are out of session. Tomorrow. Okay. So I call the marriage license office to MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN we have everything acceptable. The lady I talked to was like, Franklin county ALWAYS certifies their divorce decrees. I don't understand. I said, well he got married and divorced in Lucas County. The lady was like---oh! Well, our magistrates can't certify a divorce decree from another county! I was like ... that girl told us they would do it. The woman responded the girl probably didn't read it and ASSUMED it said Franklin.

So I said, how do we get this certified. We get married in 9 days. The lady was like, well you'll have to get it from Lucas County. We are over 3 hours away from lucas county and have no time to drive there. FH is in a conference this weekend and we don't have any more vacation time until the wedding.

So I call Lucas County and order a CERTIFIED divorce decree. The helpful guy was like well it'll take 3-5 days to process then we post it in the mail. I asked if I could pay extra for express shipping. No they don't offer that. So then I said, could FH's parents pick one up? How long would it take for them to get one? The guy was like well five minutes? We just print it and stamp it and it's theirs.

So his parents are picking it up today and overnighting it to us. Please send up a prayer everyone that on Monday we can get our Marriage License. I am literally losing my mind. Please help!

9 Comments

Latest activity by Megan, on October 3, 2019 at 10:40 PM
  • Ivy ORP
    VIP October 2019
    Ivy ORP ·
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    Oh my that is a whole lot of stress you do not need right now! I am so sorry you're going through that and I am sending all kinds of good energy that you are able to get the license in time for the ceremony. Try to find something this weekend to help you relax. Good luck!

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  • NextChapterReady
    Super October 2019
    NextChapterReady ·
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    Thanks it's just so frustrating you almost have to laugh! I call it my vacation curse, but it looks like it's bleeding into the wedding!!

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  • M
    Legend June 2019
    Melle ·
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    Goodness. I hope everything works out for you !
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  • W-K
    Super October 2019
    W-K ·
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    Hello fellow Franklin County Bride, yeah dude they are RIDICULOUS with the certification of the freakin' divorce decrees. I got divorced in California and I have an ORIGINAL wet signed divorce decree. Has all the colored stamps on it and everything. You can tell the judge signed it himself. They don't certify them automatically in California, you get the original. They made me get a certified copy. So we went in this week as well (FH was waiting on his paperwork too) and one of the women started giving me hell because there wasn't a raised seal on the back of the ending page. I'm like, they don't do that in California, I paid $30 for this, this is what it is. But then the other lady who was at the counter leaned over and was like, yeah not all states do the raised seal. What's funny is other counties don't even care if it's certified or not! Other states don't even ask for the divorce decrees as long as you know the date in which it was effective (seriously considered going to KY over this issue alone because Lake County California has it's own stupid stuff and said it'd take 4 weeks to get it).


    Sending a little prayer for you!

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  • Michaela
    Super May 2020
    Michaela ·
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    OMG! Who knew it was this complicated. I'm so sorry. Totally unneeded stress! Thank God your in-laws are able to help out. Prayers that the mail is extra fast this week!!

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  • 2d Bride
    Champion October 2009
    2d Bride ·
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    Oh, for heaven's sake! I guess we're lucky that Massachusetts only requires that you give the date of the divorce, not produce a certified copy of the divorce decree.

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  • Meghan
    Super September 2019
    Meghan ·
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    Oy, that's a lot of stress!
    When we went to get our license they wouldn't take H's birth certificate because it was the one issued by the hospital and not the town. But luckily we were getting our license in the same town H was born so they were able to look it up in their database.
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  • Karla
    Dedicated July 2021
    Karla ·
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    Oh my goodness what a disaster :/ I’m sorry the clerks kept giving you misguided information, it’s the last thing you need; you should be feeling excited not stressed! I really hope everything works out 🙏🏼
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  • Megan
    Expert October 2019
    Megan ·
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    We almost had an issue because my FHs birth certificate states an air force base as his birthplace instead of a town BUT the airforce base is the correct place so.. 🤷‍♀️ We got it though!
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