HARRY HUGHES, Governor

4467

ceremony, giving his name and official character; one of
said certificates shall be handed to the contracting parties
and the other shall within five days from the date of the
marriage be returned to the clerk of the court from which it
was issued, either by the minister or other person who
performed the ceremony, or, in the event of his death or
resignation by any qualified officer of the church or other
person in a position so to return the same.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as
interfering in any way with the right of any particular
religious denomination to join persons in marriage according
to the rules and customs of said denomination, it being the
intent of this section merely to require the issuance of the
aforesaid license prior to the performance of any marriage
ceremony and to require a signing and return of the
aforesaid certificates by the minister or other official of
a religious body or order performing said ceremony.

6.

(a) Before the clerk of any of the courts issues any
license he shall examine one of the contracting parties to
the marriage, under oath, who shall appear personally before
the clerk and make application for the license. The clerk
shall ascertain the following: (1) the full name of each
party; (2) the place of residence of each party; (3) the age
of each party; (4) the marital status of each party, whether
previously married or single; (5) whether related or not, if
so, in which degree of relationship; (6) if one or both of
the parties has been previously married, the date and place
of all deaths and judicial determinations terminating all
former marriages of each party; which facts upon the payment
of one dollar ($1.00) as an application fee shall be set out
in printed form to be signed by the person making the
application, and no such license to marry shall be delivered
by the clerk until after the expiration of forty-eight (48)
hours from the time application is made therefor.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the contracting parties
are not residents of the county where the marriage is to be
performed, the clerk, in lieu of a personal examination
under oath, shall accept a notarized statement from one of
the contracting parties to the marriage sworn to under oath
before a clerk of court or other comparable official in the
county, state, province or country where the party resides
specifying those facts required in this section. The clerk
of the county in which the marriage is to be performed shall
receive the payment of $2 in addition to all other
applicable fees, and a license to marry may not be delivered
by the clerk until after the expiration of 48 hours from the
time a notarized application statement is received by the
clerk. Any judge of the circuit court of the county in which
the application is made [or, if made in Baltimore City, any
judge of the Court of Common Pleas], for good and sufficient
cause shown, may, by an order in writing signed by him,