Topline:
The cost of tying the knot is going up in Los Angeles County after the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to nearly double the cost of marriage licenses from $91 to $176.
What’s changing: In a letter to the supervisors ahead of their Tuesday board meeting, Registrar Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan said nearly half the increase can be attributed to cost-of-living adjustments for county employees since 2009, the last time the marriage license fee went up. The remainder reflects several “operational enhancements” and mandated changes like the addition of same sex marriages in 2013.
Current fees “no longer reflect the actual costs to the RR/CC to perform these services and do not take into account inflationary factors or mandated minimum wage increases,” Logan wrote. By comparison, it costs $61 for a marriage license in Orange County.
Other changes: It will also cost more to get married at the L.A. County Clerk's Office in Norwalk. A civil wedding ceremony fee will jump from $35 to $44, and the ceremony witness fee will go from $20 to $26. The cost of a confidential marriage license, which does not require a witness, will increase to $220 from $85. A confidential marriage license is a legally recognized marriage record that is not part of the public record.
What’s next: The fee increase will take effect in 30 days.