The Marriage Department is responsible for issuing marriage licenses. Pursuant to applicable Louisiana statutes, applicants for marriage licenses must provide:. Licenses generally must be purchased at least 24 hours prior to the ceremony. The couple who chooses to enter into a Covenant Marriage agrees to be bound by two serious limitations on obtaining a divorce or separation.
These limitations do not apply to other couples married in Louisiana. After discussing the meaning of a Covenant Marriage with the counselor, the couple must also sign, together with an attestation by the counselor, a notarized affidavit to the effect that the counselor has discussed with them:.
The two documents which compromise the Declaration of Intent - the recitation and the affidavit with attestation - must be presented to the official who issues the marriage license with the couple's application for a marriage license. In order to obtain a legal separation which is not a divorce and therefore does not end the marriage , a spouse to a Covenant Marriage must first obtain counseling and then must prove:.
A marriage that is not a Covenant Marriage may be ended by divorce more easily than a Covenant Marriage. In a marriage that is not a Covenant Marriage, a spouse may get a divorce for adultery by the other spouse, conviction of a felony by the other spouse and his imprisonment at hard labor or death, or by proof that the spouses have lived separate and apart for six months before or after filing for divorce.
In a Covenant Marriage a spouse may get a divorce only after receiving counseling and may only get a divorce for the following reasons:. Couples who are already married may execute a declaration of intent to designate their marriage a Covenant Marriage. They must sign a recitation and affidavit similar to those described in the aforementioned pamphlet, after receiving counseling.
