23 Pa.C.S. § 1306

This is the official text of 23 Pa.C.S. § 1306, part of Pennsylvania’s Pa.C.S — part of the compiled statutory law of Pennsylvania, published by the state as "Pa.C.S." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Oral examination.

Official statutory text

(a) General rule.--Each of the applicants for a marriage license shall appear in person and shall be examined under oath or affirmation as to:

(1) The legality of the contemplated marriage.

(2) Any prior marriage or marriages and its or their dissolution.

(3) The restrictions set forth in section 1304 (relating to restrictions on issuance of license).

(4) All the information required to be furnished on the application for license as prepared and approved by the department.

(b) Exception.--If an applicant is unable to appear in person because of his active military service or because the office of the register of wills is closed due to a state of disaster emergency declared by the Governor under 35 Pa.C.S. § 7301(c) (relating to general authority of Governor) or a declaration of judicial emergency under Article V of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, a law of this Commonwealth, a rule of court or other judicial order by the Supreme Court or any agency or unit of the unified judicial system exercising a power or performing a duty under 42 Pa.C.S. § 1721 (relating to delegation of powers), the applicant shall be permitted to

forward an affidavit, which verifies all of the information required under subsection (a), to the issuing authority.

(c) Form.--The department shall develop and make available affidavit forms to be used by applicants under subsection (b).

(d) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "active military service" means active service in any of the armed services or forces of the United States or this Commonwealth. (Oct. 27, 2006, P.L.1192, No.126, eff. 60 days; May 8, 2020, P.L.121, No.18, eff. imd.) 2020 Amendment. Act 18 amended subsec. (b). Section 3(1) of Act 18 provided that the amendment of subsec. (b) shall be retroactive to March 18, 2020.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Pennsylvania?

Find a Pennsylvania lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.