Minnesota Premarital Preparation Online Video Course

According to Minnesota 517.08 Application For License,  the civil marriage license fee for parties who have completed at least 12 hours of premarital education is $40. In order to qualify for the reduced license fee, the parties must submit at the time of applying for the civil marriage license a statement that is signed, dated, and notarized or marked with a church seal from the person who provided the premarital education on their letterhead confirming that it was received. The premarital education must be provided by a licensed or ordained minister  (Dr. D’Arienzo is an ordained minister) or the minister’s designee, a person authorized to solemnize civil 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.

517.08 APPLICATION FOR LICENSE in Minnesota

(b) The civil marriage license fee for parties who have completed at least 12 hours of premarital education is $40. In order to qualify for the reduced license fee, the parties must submit at the time of applying for the civil marriage license a statement that is signed, dated, and notarized or marked with a church seal from the person who provided the premarital education on their letterhead 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 civil 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 the 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 civil 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 civil marriage license application.

Notwithstanding section 138.17, the educator’s statement must be retained for seven years, after which time it may be destroyed.(d) If section 259.13 applies to the request for a civil marriage license, the local registrar shall grant the civil marriage license without the requested name change. Alternatively, the local registrar may delay the granting of the civil marriage license until the party with the conviction:(1) certifies under oath that 30 days have passed since service of the notice for a name change upon the prosecuting authority and, if applicable, the attorney general and no objection has been filed under section 259.13; or(2) provides a certified copy of the court order granting it. The parties seeking the civil marriage license shall have the right to choose to have the license granted without the name change or to delay its granting pending further action on the name change request.§Subd. 1c.Disposition of license fee.

(a) Of the civil marriage license fee collected pursuant to subdivision 1b, paragraph (a), $25 must be retained by the county. The local registrar must pay $90 to the commissioner of management and budget to be deposited as follows:(1) $55 in the general fund;(2) $3 in the state government special revenue fund to be appropriated to the commissioner of public safety for parenting time centers under section 119A.37;(3) $2 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to the commissioner of health for developing and implementing the MN ENABL program under section 145.9255;(4) $25 in the special revenue fund is appropriated to the commissioner of employment and economic development for the displaced homemaker program under section 116L.96; and(5) $5 in the special revenue fund, which is appropriated to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota for the Minnesota couples on the brink project under section 137.32.(b) Of the $40 fee under subdivision 1b, paragraph (b), $25 must be retained by the county. The local registrar must pay $15 to the commissioner of management and budget to be deposited as follows:(1) $5 as provided in paragraph (a), clauses (2) and (3); and(2) $10 in the special revenue fund is appropriated to the commissioner of employment and economic development for the displaced homemaker program under section 116L.96.

Subd. 4.Report.

The local registrar of each county shall annually report to the Department of Health the number of civil marriage licenses issued in the county for which the fee in subdivision 1b, paragraph (a), was paid and the number for which the fee in subdivision 1b, paragraph (c), was paid.