Marriage
383B.251 License bureau.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, in the Hennepin county license bureau, created pursuant to sections 373.32 to 373.38, the license bureau director shall have the following additional duties: issue and process marriage licenses and records, record veterinary licenses, record optometry licenses, record chiropractic licenses, record podiatrist licenses, record osteopathic licenses, record medical doctor (M.D.) certificates, record basic science certificates, record ministerial credentials, record notary commissions, record trade names, issue jurats and acknowledgments, issue and process birth and death records, and issue certified copies of any of the above as applicable. On July 1, 1974, all of the duties herein enumerated are transferred from the court administrator of the district court of Hennepin county to the director of the Hennepin county license bureau.
517.01 MARRIAGE A CIVIL CONTRACT.
Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between a man and a woman, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential. Lawful marriage may be contracted only between persons of the opposite sex and only when a license has been obtained as provided by law and when the marriage is contracted in the presence of two witnesses and solemnized by one authorized, or whom one or both of the parties in good faith believe to be authorized, so to do.
517.03 PROHIBITED MARRIAGES.
Subdivision 1. General. (a) The following marriages are prohibited:
(4) a marriage between persons of the same sex.
(b) A marriage entered into by persons of the same sex, either under common law or statute, that is recognized by another state or foreign jurisdiction is void in this state and contractual rights granted by virtue of the marriage or its termination are unenforceable in this state.
517.04 SOLEMNIZATION. Marriages may be solemnized throughout the state by a judge of a court of record, a retired judge of a court of record, a court administrator, a retired court administrator with the approval of the chief judge of the judicial district, a former court commissioner who is employed by the court system or is acting pursuant to an order of the chief judge of the commissioner's judicial district, the residential school administrators of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf and the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind, a licensed or ordained minister of any religious denomination, or by any mode recognized in section 517.18.
517.05 CREDENTIALS OF MINISTER.
Ministers of any religious denomination, before they are authorized to solemnize a marriage, shall file a copy of their credentials of license or ordination with the court administrator of the district court of a county in this state, who shall record the same and give a certificate thereof. The place where the credentials are recorded shall be endorsed upon and recorded with each certificate of marriage granted by a minister.
Only Hennepin County has the requirement of Letter of Good Standing. All other Counties may only ask for Credential of Ordination as provided by the ordaining church.
517.06 PARTIES EXAMINED. Every person authorized by law to perform the marriage ceremony, before solemnizing a marriage, may examine the parties on oath, which oath the person is authorized to administer, as to the legality of the intended marriage, and no person shall solemnize a marriage unless satisfied that there is no legal impediment to it.
517.07 LICENSE.
Before any persons are joined in marriage, a license shall be obtained from the local registrar of any county. The marriage need not take place in the county where the license is obtained.
517.08 APPLICATION FOR LICENSE.
Subd. 1b. Term of license; fee; premarital education.
(b) The marriage license fee for parties who have completed at least 12 hours of premarital education is $30. In order to qualify for the reduced fee, the parties must submit a signed and dated statement from the person who provided the premarital education confirming that it was received. The premarital education must be provided by a licensed or ordained minister or the minister's designee, a person authorized to solemnize marriages under section 517.18, or a person authorized to practice marriage and family therapy under section 148B.33. The education must include the use of a premarital inventory and the teaching of communication and conflict management skills.
(c) The statement from the person who provided the premarital education under paragraph (b) must be in the following form:
"I, (name of educator), confirm that (names of both parties) received at least 12 hours of premarital education that included the use of a premarital inventory and the teaching of communication and conflict management skills. I am a licensed or ordained minister, a person authorized to solemnize marriages under Minnesota Statutes, section 517.18, or a person licensed to practice marriage and family therapy under Minnesota Statutes, section 148B.33." The names of the parties in the educator's statement must be identical to the legal names of the parties as they appear in the marriage license application. Notwithstanding section 138.17, the educator's statement must be retained for seven years, after which time it may be destroyed.
517.09 SOLEMNIZATION.
No particular form is required to solemnize a marriage, except: the parties shall declare in the presence of a person authorized to solemnize marriages and two attending witnesses that they take each other as husband and wife; or the marriage shall be solemnized in a manner provided by section 517.18.
517.10 CERTIFICATE; WITNESSES.
The person solemnizing a marriage shall prepare and sign three certificates thereof. Each certificate shall contain the full names before and after marriage and county and state of residences of the parties and the date and place of the marriage. Each certificate shall also contain the signatures of at least two of the witnesses present at the marriage who shall be at least 16 years of age. The person solemnizing the marriage shall give each of the parties one such certificate, and shall immediately make a record of such marriage, and file one such certificate with the local registrar of the district court of the county in which the license was issued within five days after the ceremony. The local registrar shall record such certificate in a book kept for that purpose.
517.101 CERTIFIED COPIES OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.
Within ten days of receipt of the certificate and after recording the certificate the local registrar shall prepare a certified copy of the certificate to be mailed to the married parties. The person solemnizing the marriage shall indicate at the time of filing the certificate with the local registrar that the person wishes to receive a copy.
517.13 PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO DELIVER AND FILE CERTIFICATE.
Every person solemnizing a marriage who neglects to deliver to the local registrar a certificate within the time set forth in section 517.10 shall forfeit a sum not exceeding $100, and every local registrar who neglects to record a certificate shall forfeit a like sum.
517.14 ILLEGAL MARRIAGE; FALSE CERTIFICATE; PENALTY.
A person authorized by law to solemnize marriages who knowingly solemnizes a marriage contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or knowing of any legal impediment to the proposed marriage, or who willfully makes a false certificate of any marriage or pretended marriage is guilty of a misdemeanor.
517.15 UNAUTHORIZED PERSON PERFORMING CEREMONY.
A person who knowingly undertakes to solemnize a marriage, without lawful authority to do so, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
517.16 IMMATERIAL IRREGULARITY OF OFFICIATING PERSON DOES NOT VOID.
A marriage solemnized before a person professing to be lawfully authorized to do so shall not be adjudged to be void, nor shall its validity be in any way affected, on account of a want of jurisdiction or authority in the supposed officer or person, if the marriage is consummated with the full belief on the part of the persons so married, or either of them, that they have been lawfully joined in marriage.
517.20 APPLICATION.
Except as provided in section 517.03, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), all marriages contracted within this state prior to March 1, 1979 or outside this state that were valid at the time of the contract or subsequently validated by the laws of the place in which they were contracted or by the domicile of the parties are valid in this state.
Counseling/healing
Chapter 147B. Acupuncture Practitioners
147B.02 LICENSURE.
(b) This chapter does not prohibit a person who does not have an acupuncturist license from practicing specific noninvasive techniques, such as acupressure, that are within the scope of practice as set forth in section 147B.06, subdivision 4.
148.88 Psychology Practice Act.
Subd. 4. Persons or techniques not regulated by this board. (a) Nothing in sections 148.88 to 148.98 shall be construed to limit the occupational pursuits consistent with their training and codes of ethics of professionals such as teachers in recognized public and private schools, members of the clergy, physicians, social workers, school psychologists, alcohol or drug counselors, optometrists, or attorneys. However, in such performance any title used shall be in accordance with section 148.96.
Chapter 148B. Social Work, Marriage And Family Therapy, Mental Health
148B.38 EXCEPTIONS FROM LICENSE REQUIREMENT.
Subdivision 1. Other professionals. Nothing in sections 148B.29 to 148B.39 shall be construed to prevent qualified members of other licensed or certified professions or occupations, such as licensed physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, psychologists licensed by the board of psychology, social workers, probation officers, members of the clergy,
148B.50 LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING
Subd. 6. Clergy. Nothing in sections 148B.50 to 148B.593 limits the activities and services of a rabbi, priest, minister, or clergyperson of any religious denomination or sect, provided such activities and services are within the scope of the performance of regular or specialized ministerial duties.
Chapter 148D. Board Of Social Work
148D.065 EXEMPTIONS.
Subdivision 1. Other professionals. Nothing in this chapter may be construed to prevent members of other professions or occupations from performing functions for which they are qualified or licensed. This exception includes but is not limited to: licensed physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, licensed psychologists, psychological practitioners, probation officers, members of the clergy and Christian Science practitioners, attorneys, marriage and family therapists, alcohol and drug counselors, professional counselors, school counselors, and registered occupational therapists or certified occupational therapist assistants. These persons must not, however, hold themselves out to the public by any title or description stating or implying that they are engaged in the practice of social work, or that they are licensed to engage in the practice of social work. Persons engaged in the practice of social work are not exempt from the board's jurisdiction solely by the use of one of the titles in this subdivision.
Chapter 245A. Human Services Licensing
Subd. 2. Exclusion from licensure. (a) This chapter does not apply to:
(15) programs for children such as scouting, boys clubs, girls clubs, and sports and art programs
(17) the religious instruction of school-age children; Sabbath or Sunday schools; or the congregate care of children by a church, congregation, or religious society during the period used by the church, congregation, or religious society for its regular worship;
Chapter 363A. Minnesota Human Rights Act
363A.26 EXEMPTION BASED ON RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION.
Nothing in this chapter prohibits any religious association, religious corporation, or religious society that is not organized for private profit, or any institution organized for educational purposes that is operated, supervised, or controlled by a religious association, religious corporation, or religious society that is not organized for private profit, from:
(1) limiting admission to or giving preference to persons of the same religion or denomination; or
(2) in matters relating to sexual orientation, taking any action with respect to education, employment, housing and real property, or use of facilities. This clause shall not apply to secular business activities engaged in by the religious association, religious corporation, or religious society, the conduct of which is unrelated to the religious and educational purposes for which it is organized.
