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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Related Missouri laws
Marriages illegally solemnized
RSMo 451.115
Certificate of marriage to be given
RSMo 451.110
Penalty for failure to issue, record or return license
RSMo 451.130
Marriages solemnized by whom
RSMo 451.100
Licenses to be recorded
RSMo 451.150
Issuance of license prohibited, when
RSMo 451.090
Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.