Will my marriage be valid in the US?

[Pattee]

How do destination weddings typically work? I want to get married in Paris. So will I actually be legally married in the US? Am I supposed to get married at a courthouse in the US first then have a ceremony in France?

 

Pattee

[Jen_S]

I would check with your county. We got married in Mexico and our county required a renewal ceremony and the fee was $150 to make it legal here so we decided to get married at the courthouse prior to leaving because between the county fees and the difference in the legal and vow renewal we saved around $1500.

[mich999]

We followed the Mexico law to get legally married in Mexico and just recorded a copy of our legal marriage certificate with the county we live in, but we didn't have to do anything else in U.S. - my understanding is that US recognizes legal marriage in other countries as long as you follow legal procedures for that ocuntry, butyou might want to check with your county to be sure there aren't other local requirements - it's very confusing!

[Gr8ful]

I would do a web search to figure this out -- different countries have different rules, and it has to be recognized here in the US. I did a preliminary search, and found this, hope it helps:

 

Marriage in France - France in the United States/ Embassy of France in Washington

 

Also, depending on where you are getting married, maybe they have a service there that can help you with the paperwork.

 

We were going to do the legal marriage in Mexico, but after researching it, it seemed to be too much work for us so we are going to get officially married here in Sept/Oct. and then have the ceremonial marriage in November.

[TerpsOfTheCaribbean]

If you get married in France it will be recognized in the US. However, to get married in France, one of the two people must live in country for 40 days, and there are also additional requirements as far as locations go, and who can perform them.

[zethers]

I think every state is different, we got married legally in Mexico, a day before our symbolic beach wedding, (which no one knows was only symbolic, hehe), anyways I dragged my butt down to the Los Angeles County Recorders office to have it recorded and they said it wasn't necessary. I went to the social security office today with my marriage certificate that I obtained in Mexico and it was easy, he looked at it and filled in some information on the computer and that was it.

 

I would check with your county and with your wedding planner.

 

Good Luck.

[march132010]

Great post never crossed my mind, gonna check my state laws