LA County to increase marriage license, ceremony fees

(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

NORWALK - Tying the knot in Los Angeles County will be getting a little more expensive, with the Board of Supervisors voting unanimously Tuesday to increase the cost of marriage licenses, civil wedding ceremonies and ceremony witness services.

According to a letter sent to board members by Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan, the county has not substantially changed its marriage license fees since 2009, although the state added $1 to the cost in 2014. Ceremony and witness fees have not changed since 2015.

Logan said the 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."

As a result, Logan asked the board Tuesday to raise the cost of a standard marriage license from the current $91 to $176. The cost of a confidential marriage license will rise from $85 to $220, while a civil wedding ceremony fee will rise from $35 to $44, and the ceremony witness fee will jump from $20 to $26.

The new fees -- approved by the board without discussion -- will take effect in 30 days.

"The proposed fee increase is significant as approximately 42% of this increase is attributed to cost-of-living adjustments for L.A. County employees since 2009, with the remainder reflecting several operational enhancements and mandated changes that have significantly impacted workload and administrative costs," Logan wrote in his letter to the board.

According to Logan, his office conducted a survey of marriage fees charged in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Contra Costa, San Bernardino, San Francisco and Ventura counties. The average fee for a marriage license in those counties is $100, and $107 for a confidential license. The highest current license cost in those counties is in San Diego, which charges $129 for a standard license and $144 for a confidential one. Orange County charges the least, at $61 and $66, respectively.

The fee increases will increase the RR/CC's annual revenue by roughly $5.1 million, according to Logan's letter.