Prop 8 is to get a ruling today

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Wait, wait. You still have to get a marriage license from the government. That's what the JOP/clerk or clergy member signs and submits to enter you into the system as legally married.

This can be done with or without a ceremony.

ETA: Thanks MysticCat!

That's probably what I was thinking about. I wasn't aware that religious officials were acting as agents of the state.

So, in essence, if you're married by a church, you'd just be informing the government that you're married, correct? I was thinking it was something along the lines of "this isn't real UNTIL you've been married by the JOP."

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

That's probably what I was thinking about. I wasn't aware that religious officials were acting as agents of the state.

So, in essence, if you're married by a church, you'd just be informing the government that you're married, correct? I was thinking it was something along the lines of "this isn't real UNTIL you've been married by the JOP."

Gotcha. It's not necessarily the JOP. It's whatever agency/individual is responsible for vital records in your area. I was married by the "Town Clerk" in 2006. I got a marriage license and took it - and two witnesses - to the courthouse. The Town Clerk did his thing and then signed the license. A marriage certificate was mailed out some time later.

Then a few years after that, I had my church wedding. We had the marriage certificate edited by the Town Clerk to include the name of the Archbishop and diocese. Now, that part, I didn't understand. How do you retroactively do that?