Topic summary
Marriage licence
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Marriage license.
A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdictions, and has changed over time. Marriage licenses began to be issued in the Middle Ages, to permit a marriage that would otherwise be illegal (for instance, if the necessary period of notice for the marriage had not been given).