N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 15

§ 15. Duty of town and city clerks. 1. (a) It shall be the duty of\nthe town or city clerk when an application for a marriage license is\nmade to him or her to require each of the contracting parties to sign\nand verify a statement or affidavit before such clerk or one of his or\nher deputies, containing the following information. From party one: Full\nname, place of residence, social security number, age, occupation, place\nof birth, name of father, country of birth, maiden name of mother,\ncountry of birth, number of marriage. From party two: Full name, place\nof residence, social security number, age, occupation, place of birth,\nname of father, country of birth, maiden name of mother, country of\nbirth, number of marriage. Both parties shall also be required to\npresent to the clerk documentary proof of age in the form of an original\nor certified copy of a birth record, a certification of birth issued by\nthe state department of health, a local registrar of vital statistics or\nother public officer charged with similar duties by the laws of any\nother state, territory or country, a baptismal record, a passport, an\nautomobile driver's license, any government or school issued\nidentification card that contains a photograph of the applicant, a life\ninsurance policy, an employment certificate, a school record, an\nimmigration record, a naturalization record, a court record or any other\ndocument or record issued by a governmental entity, showing the date of\nbirth of such parties. The said clerk shall also embody in the statement\nif either or both of the applicants have been previously married, a\nstatement as to whether the former spouse or spouses of the respective\napplicants are living or dead and as to whether either or both of said\napplicants are divorced persons, if so, when and where and against whom\nthe divorce or divorces were granted and shall also embody therein a\nstatement that no legal impediment exists as to the right of each of the\napplicants to enter into the marriage state. The town or city clerk is\nhereby given full power and authority to administer oaths and may\nrequire the applicants to produce witnesses to identify them or either\nof them and may examine under oath or otherwise other witnesses as to\nany material inquiry pertaining to the issuing of the license, and if\nthe applicant is a divorced person the clerk may also require the\nproduction of a certified copy of the decree of the divorce, or proof of\nan existing marriage of parties who apply for a license to be used for a\nsecond or subsequent ceremony; provided, however, that in cities or\ntowns the verified statements and affidavits may be made before any\nregular clerk or designee of the clerk's office.\n (b) Every application for a marriage license shall contain a statement\nto the following effect:\n NOTICE TO APPLICANTS\n (1) Every person has the right to adopt any name by which he or she\nwishes to be known simply by using that name consistently and without\nintent to defraud.\n (2) A person's last name (surname) does not automatically change upon\nmarriage, and neither party to the marriage must change his or her last\nname. Parties to a marriage need not have the same last name.\n (3) One or both parties to a marriage may elect to change the surname\nby which he or she wishes to be known after the solemnization of the\nmarriage by entering the new name in the space below. Such entry shall\nconsist of one of the following surnames:\n (i) the surname of the other spouse; or\n (ii) any former surname of either spouse; or\n (iii) a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the\npremarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse; or\n (iv) a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part\nof such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former\nsurname, of each of the spouses.\n (4) The use of this option will have the effect of providing a record\nof the change of name. The marriage certificate, containing the new\nname, if any, constitutes proof that the use of the new name, or the\nretention of the former name, is lawful.\n (5) Neither the use of, nor the failure to use, this option of\nselecting a new surname by means of this application abrogates the right\nof each person to adopt a different name through usage at some future\ndate.\n .....................................\n (Optional -- Enter new surname above)\n 2. If it appears from the affidavits and statements so taken, and from\nthe documentary proof of age presented, that the persons for whose\nmarriage the license in question is demanded are legally competent to\nmarry, the said clerk shall issue such license.\n 3. If it shall appear upon an application of the applicants as\nprovided in this section or upon information required by the clerk that\neither party is at least seventeen years of age but under eighteen years\nof age, then the town or city clerk before he shall issue a license\nshall require:\n (a) the written consent to the marriage from both parents of the minor\nor minors or such as shall then be living, or if the parents of both are\ndead, then the written consent of the guardian or guardians of such\nminor or minors. If one of the parents has been missing and has not been\nseen or heard from for a period of one year preceding the time of the\napplication for the license, although diligent inquiry has been made to\nlearn the whereabouts of such parent, the town or city clerk may issue a\nlicense to such minor upon the sworn statement and consent of the other\nparent. If the marriage of the parents of such minor has been dissolved\nby decree of divorce or annulment, the consent of the parent to whom the\ncourt which granted the decree has awarded the custody of such minor\nshall be sufficient. If there is no parent or guardian of the minor or\nminors living to their knowledge then the town or city clerk shall\nrequire the written consent to the marriage of the person under whose\ncare or government the minor or minors may be before a license shall be\nissued. If a parent of such minor has been adjudicated an incompetent,\nthe town or city clerk may issue a license to such minor upon the\nproduction of a certified copy of such judgment so determining and upon\nthe written consent of the other parent. If there is no other parent\nwhose consent is required by this section, then and in such event, the\ntown or city clerk shall require the written consent of the guardian of\nsuch minor or of the person under whose care or government the minor may\nbe before a license shall be issued. The parents, guardians, or other\npersons whose consent it shall be necessary to obtain and file with the\ntown or city clerk before the license shall issue, shall personally\nappear and acknowledge or execute the same before the town or city\nclerk, or some other officer authorized to administer oaths and take\nacknowledgments provided that where such affidavit or acknowledgment is\nmade before an official other than an officer designated in section two\nhundred ninety-eight of the real property law as authorized to take such\naffidavit or acknowledgment if a conveyance of real property were being\nacknowledged or proved, or if a certificate of authentication would be\nrequired by section three hundred ten of the real property law to\nentitle the instrument to be recorded if it were a conveyance of real\nproperty, the consent when filed must have attached thereto a\ncertificate of authentication; and\n (b) the written approval of a justice of the supreme court or of a\njudge of the family court, having jurisdiction over the town or city in\nwhich the application is made, to be attached to or endorsed upon the\napplication, before the license is issued. The application for such\napproval may be made by either minor party to the proposed marriage and\nshall be heard by the judge at chambers. The justice of the supreme\ncourt or the judge of the family court shall appoint an attorney for the\nchild for each minor party immediately upon the application for\napproval. The attorney for the child must have received training in\ndomestic violence including a component on forced marriage. All papers\nand records pertaining to any such application shall be sealed and\nwithheld from inspection, except by order of a court of competent\njurisdiction. Before issuing any approval, the justice of the supreme\ncourt or the judge of the family court shall:\n (i) provide notification to each minor party of his or her rights,\nincluding but not limited to, rights in relation to termination of the\nmarriage, child and spousal support, domestic violence services and\naccess to public benefits and other services, which notification shall\nbe developed by the office of court administration, in consultation with\nthe office for the prevention of domestic violence;\n (ii) with respect to each party, including a minor party, conduct a\nreview of related decisions in court proceedings initiated pursuant to\narticle ten of the family court act, and all warrants issued under the\nfamily court act, and reports of the statewide computerized registry of\norders of protection established and maintained pursuant to section two\nhundred twenty-one-a of the executive law, and reports of the sex\noffender registry established and maintained pursuant to section one\nhundred sixty-eight-b of the correction law; and\n (iii) have an in camera interview, separately with each minor party,\nand make the following written affirmative findings:\n A. that it is the minor's own will that the minor enter into the\nmarriage;\n B. that the minor is not being compelled by force, threat, persuasion,\nfraud, coercion or duress; and\n C. that the marriage will not endanger the mental, emotional or\nphysical safety of the minor.\n In making such findings, the court shall consider, among other\nrelevant factors, the age difference between the parties intending to be\nmarried, whether there is a power imbalance between the parties\nintending to be married, whether the parties are incapable of consenting\nto a marriage for want of understanding, whether there is a history of\ndomestic violence between the parties and whether there is a history of\ndomestic violence between a party and either parties' or legal\nguardians' family members. The wishes of the parents or legal guardians\nof the minor intending to be married shall not be the sole basis for\napproval under this subdivision.\n Upon the approval of the justice of the supreme court or the judge of\nthe family court of the application to marry, each minor party shall\nhave all the rights of an adult, including the right to enter into a\ncontract, except for those specific constitutional and statutory age\nrequirements such as, but not limited to, voting, use of alcoholic\nbeverages, and other health or safety statutes relevant to him or her\nbecause of his or her age.\n 4. Before issuing any licenses herein provided for, the town or city\nclerk shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars, which sum shall be\npaid by the applicants before or at the time the license is issued. Any\ntown or city clerk who shall issue a license to marry any persons one or\nboth of whom shall not be at the time of the marriage under such license\nlegally competent to marry without first requiring the parties to such\nmarriage to make such affidavits and statements or who shall not require\nthe production of documentary proof of age or the procuring of the\napproval and consents provided for by this article, which shall show\nthat the parties authorized by said license to be married are legally\ncompetent to marry, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction\nthereof shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars for each and\nevery offense. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, each town\nand city clerk, except in the city of New York, shall transmit to the\nstate commissioner of health twenty-two dollars and fifty cents of the\namount received for each fee collected, which shall be paid into the\nvital records management account as provided by section\nninety-seven-cccc of the state finance law. In any city the balance of\nall fees collected for the issuing of a marriage license, or for\nsolemnizing a marriage, so far as collected for services rendered by any\nofficer or employee of such city, shall be paid monthly into the city\ntreasury and may by ordinance be credited to any fund therein\ndesignated, and said ordinance, when duly enacted, shall have the force\nof law in such city. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this\narticle, the clerk of any city with the approval of the governing body\nof such city is hereby authorized to designate, in writing filed in the\ncity clerk's office, a deputy clerk, if any, and/or other city employees\nin such office to receive applications for, examine applications,\ninvestigate and issue marriage licenses in the absence or inability of\nthe clerk of said city to act, and said deputy and/or employees so\ndesignated are hereby vested with all the powers and duties of said city\nclerk relative thereto. Such deputy and/or employees shall perform said\nduties without additional compensation.\n 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the city clerk\nof the city of New York, before issuing any licenses herein provided\nfor, shall be entitled to a fee of twenty-five dollars, which sum shall\nbe paid by the applicants before or at the time the license is issued\nand all such fees so received shall be paid monthly into the city\ntreasury.\n