North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 51 Marriage

Article 1 - General Provisions.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-1. Requisites of marriage; solemnization
A valid and sufficient marriage is created by the consent of a male and female person who may lawfully marry, presently to take each...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-1.1. Certain marriages performed by ministers of Universal Life Church validated
Any marriages performed by ministers of the Universal Life Church prior to July 3, 1981, are validated, unless they have been invalidated by a...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-1.2. Marriages between persons of the same gender not valid
Marriages, whether created by common law, contracted, or performed outside of North Carolina, between individuals of the same gender are not valid in North...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-2. Capacity to marry
(a) All unmarried persons of 18 years, or older, may lawfully marry, except as hereinafter forbidden. (a1) Persons over 16 years of age and...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-2.1. Marriage of certain underage parties
(a) If an unmarried female who is more than 14 years of age, but less than 16 years of age, is pregnant or has...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-2.2. Parent includes adoptive parent
As used in this Article, the terms "parent", "father", or "mother" includes one who has become a parent, father, or mother, respectively, by adoption....
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-3. Want of capacity; void and voidable marriages
All marriages between any two persons nearer of kin than first cousins, or between double first cousins, or between a male person under 16...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-3.1. Interracial marriages validated
All interracial marriages that were declared void by statute or a court of competent jurisdiction prior to March 24, 1977, are hereby validated. The...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-3.2. Marriage licensed and solemnized by a federally recognized Indian Nation or Tribe
(a) Subject to the restriction provided in subsection (b), a marriage between a man and a woman licensed and solemnized according to the law...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-4. Prohibited degrees of kinship
When the degree of kinship is estimated with a view to ascertain the right of kinspeople to marry, the half-blood shall be counted as...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-5. Marriages between slaves validated
Persons, both or one of whom were formerly slaves, who have complied with the provisions of section five, Chapter 40, of the acts of...

Article 2 - Marriage Licenses.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-6. Solemnization without license unlawful
No minister, officer, or any other person authorized to solemnize a marriage under the laws of this State shall perform a ceremony of marriage...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-7. Penalty for solemnizing without license
Every minister, officer, or any other person authorized to solemnize a marriage under the laws of this State, who marries any couple without a...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-8. License issued by register of deeds
Every register of deeds shall, upon proper application, issue a license for the marriage of any two persons who are able to answer the...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-8.1. Repealed by Session Laws 1967, c. 53
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-8.2. Issuance of marriage license when applicant is unable to appear
If an applicant for a marriage license is over 18 years of age and is unable to appear in person at the register of...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-9 through 51-11. Repealed by Session Laws 1994, c. 647, ss. 1-3
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-12. Repealed by Session Laws 1985, c. 589, s. 27
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-13. Repealed by Session Laws 1994, c. 647, s. 4
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-14. Repealed by Session Laws 1967, c. 957, s. 3
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-15. Obtaining license by false representation misdemeanor
If any person shall obtain, or aid and abet in obtaining, a marriage license by misrepresentation or false pretenses, that person shall be guilty...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-16. Form of license
License shall be in the following or some equivalent form: To any ordained minister of any religious denomination, minister authorized by a church, any...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-16.1. Form of license for Address Confidentiality Program participant
If a person submits to the local register of deeds a current and valid Address Confidentiality Program authorization card issued pursuant to the provisions...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-17. Penalty for issuing license unlawfully
Every register of deeds who knowingly or without reasonable inquiry, personally or by deputy, issues a license for the marriage of any two persons...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-18. Record of licenses and returns; originals filed
The register of deeds shall maintain a separate index for marriage licenses and returns thereto. Each marriage license shall be indexed alphabetically according to...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-18.1. Correction of errors in application or license; amendment of names in application or license
(a) When it shall appear to the register of deeds of any county in this State that information is incorrectly stated on an application...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-19. Penalty for failure to record
Any register of deeds who fails to record, in the manner above prescribed, the substance of any marriage license issued by him, or who...
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-20. Repealed by Session Laws 1969, c. 80, s. 6
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 51-21. Issuance of delayed marriage certificates
In all those cases where a minister or other person authorized by law to perform marriage ceremonies has failed to file his return thereof...

Last modified: March 23, 2014