Penalty for solemnizing marriage without license, or failing to keep a record thereof
If someone performs a marriage without the couple having a proper license, or does not keep a record of the marriage, that person can be fined up to $500 and charged with a misdemeanor. The family or guardian of the married person can also sue them for up to another $500. A county recorder who issues a marriage license when they are not supposed to faces the same punishment.
451.120. for marriage without , or failing to keep a thereof. — Any person who shall any marriage wherein the parties have not obtained a license, as provided by this chapter, or shall fail to keep a record of the of any marriage, shall be guilty of a , and upon shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and in addition shall be subject to a by the parent, or other person having care or of the person so married, to whom services are due wherein the recovery shall not exceed the sum of five hundred dollars; and any who shall a license contrary to the of this chapter shall be subject to a like punishment.
(RSMo 1939 § 3371, A.L. 1983 S.B. 44 & 45)
Prior revisions: 1929 § 2984; 1919 § 7309; 1909 § 8290
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Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.