Arizona Marriage Laws: Licenses, Ceremony, and Covenant Marriage

Arizona marriage laws let any couple, including out-of-state residents, get a marriage license and wed on the same day. The license costs $98 in most counties, is issued by the Clerk of the Superior Court, and stays valid for 12 months.¹ There is no waiting period, no blood test, and no residency requirement.² Beyond the basic license, the state sets rules on age, who may officiate, which marriages are void, and it offers a stricter covenant marriage option that only a few states have.

How to Get a Marriage License

Both parties must appear in person at the Clerk of the Superior Court in any Arizona county and show valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.¹ You do not need to bring a divorce decree from a prior marriage.²

The fee is $98 in Maricopa, Pima, and Yavapai counties, and most other counties charge the same.³ Payment methods vary by county but usually include cash, money order, and debit or credit cards. Some counties, like Maricopa, offer an online application, but that option is limited to Arizona residents; walk-in and appointment service is open to anyone regardless of where you live.¹

Your license takes effect immediately and is good for one year. If you don’t marry within that window, it expires and you’ll need a new one.⁴ Because there is no waiting period, you can obtain the license and hold the ceremony the same day as long as an officiant is lined up.

For the marriage to be legally valid, the license has to be signed by both spouses, the officiant, and two witnesses aged 18 or older.⁴ The officiant must return the signed license to the Clerk of the Superior Court within 30 days after the ceremony. Failing to file within that window is a class 2 misdemeanor.¹ Follow up with your officiant to confirm it happens, since a missing filing can create problems later when you order a certified copy for a name change, insurance enrollment, or tax filings.

Age Requirements

You must be at least 18 to marry in Arizona without any extra conditions. If you are 16 or 17, marriage is allowed only under narrow rules, and both paths include an age-gap restriction: the person you’re marrying cannot be more than three years older than you.⁵

Assuming the age-gap rule is met, a 16- or 17-year-old can marry if either the custodial parent or guardian gives written consent, or the minor holds a court-issued emancipation order from Arizona or another state. Arizona prohibits marriage entirely for anyone under 16, and the Clerk of the Superior Court cannot issue a license to a minor who doesn’t meet these conditions.⁵

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

Arizona authorizes a wider range of officiants than many states. Under the statute, the ceremony can be performed by:

A duly licensed or ordained minister, elder, or other person authorized by the customs and rules of a religious organization to officiate at marriages
Judges of Arizona courts of record, municipal court judges, and justices of the peace
Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals and district court judges, bankruptcy and tax court judges, and U.S. magistrate judges
Judges of the Arizona Court of Military Appeals

The statute defines “licensed or ordained clergymen” broadly, covering anyone authorized to solemnize marriages under the customs and rules of a religious society.⁶ That language is why ministers ordained through online organizations such as the Universal Life Church are generally accepted. Arizona doesn’t require officiants to register with any state office before performing a ceremony, so there is no pre-screening of credentials. If you use an online-ordained officiant, confirm they can produce documentation of their ordination in case questions arise later.

Who Cannot Marry in Arizona

Arizona law treats certain marriages as void from the start. The following unions are prohibited and carry no legal effect:

Parents and children, including grandparents and grandchildren of any degree
Brothers and sisters, whether full or half-blood
Uncles and nieces, or aunts and nephews
First cousins, with a limited exception

First cousins may marry if both are 65 or older. If one or both are under 65, a Superior Court judge can approve the marriage only if one cousin proves an inability to reproduce.⁷ A person already married cannot marry someone else; that later marriage is void, and the prior one must be ended through divorce or annulment before a new license can issue.

Arizona does not allow couples to create a common-law marriage by living together in the state, no matter how long the relationship lasts.⁸ A valid common-law marriage established in a state that recognizes them will generally be honored in Arizona under the Full Faith and Credit Clause.

Arizona’s statute still contains language prohibiting same-sex marriage, but that provision has been unenforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. The federal Respect for Marriage Act, signed in 2022, also requires federal and interstate recognition of same-sex marriages. Arizona counties issue licenses to same-sex couples on the same terms as any other couple.

Covenant Marriage

Arizona is one of only three states that offer covenant marriage, a legal arrangement that requires premarital counseling and narrows the grounds for divorce. To enter one, you declare your intent on the marriage license application and submit an affidavit confirming you received counseling from a member of the clergy or a licensed marriage counselor about the seriousness of the commitment and the limited conditions under which the marriage can end.⁹ Couples already in a standard marriage can convert it to a covenant marriage by filing the same declaration and counseling affidavit.

A standard Arizona marriage can be dissolved on irreconcilable differences without proving fault. A covenant marriage cannot. A court will only grant dissolution on one of the following grounds:

Adultery by the other spouse
A felony conviction carrying a sentence of death or imprisonment
Abandonment of the marital home for at least one year with a refusal to return
Physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, or emotional abuse of the petitioning spouse, a child, or a relative living in the home
Habitual drug or alcohol abuse
Living apart continuously for at least two years without reconciliation
Living apart for at least one year after a decree of legal separation
Mutual agreement of both spouses to dissolve the marriage

A petition may be filed before a required separation period ends, but the court will stay the case until the time has passed.¹⁰ If none of the listed grounds exist, the court cannot dissolve the marriage.

When a Marriage Can Be Annulled

An annulment is different from a divorce. Divorce ends a valid marriage; annulment declares that no legal marriage ever existed because something was fundamentally wrong at the ceremony. Arizona courts can annul a marriage when the defect “constitutes an impediment rendering the marriage void.”¹¹

Recognized grounds include:

Fraud or misrepresentation about something material, such as a prior marriage, ability to have children, or religious beliefs
Duress, where a party was coerced or threatened into the marriage
Lack of mental or physical capacity to understand or consent, including intoxication or mental illness
Bigamy, where one party was already legally married
Underage marriage where the age requirements weren’t met
A prohibited blood relationship under the void-marriages statute
Refusal of intercourse after the marriage
Lack of contractual intent to enter a real marriage

The person seeking the annulment carries the burden of proving the defect with clear evidence.¹² Courts scrutinize these petitions carefully, and the longer a couple has lived as married, the harder it becomes to convince a judge the marriage was never valid.

1
Maricopa County Clerk of Superior Court. Marriage Licenses
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AZ Court Help. Obtaining a Marriage License
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Pima County. Marriage License
4
Yavapai County Government. Marriage Licenses
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-102 – Consent Required for Marriage of Minors
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-124 – Persons Authorized to Perform Marriage Ceremony; Definition
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-101 – Void and Prohibited Marriages
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Arizona Department of Economic Security. Common Law Marriages
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-901 – Covenant Marriage; Declaration of Intent; Filing Requirements
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-903 – Dissolution of a Covenant Marriage; Grounds
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 25-301 – Grounds
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AZ Court Help. Arizona Annulment Information