In Texas, a license to wed will cost you $60, a long way since its start rate of $15.50, and its purpose isn’t to inconvenience engaged couples, but to encourage them to stay “twogether.” Turns out, most Texas couples are not into it.
Until the 1980s, most states required people to get a blood test in order to get a marriage license. The test, which screened for certain illnesses, like syphilis and rubella, was put in place to cut down on the spread of communicable diseases and prevent birth defects. By 2006, however, the blood test requirement was phased out everywhere U.S. except Washington D.C. and Mississippi. Three researchers (Kasey Buckles of Notre Dame, Melanie Guldi of Mount Holyoke, and Joseph Price of Brigham Young) recently decided to find out if the elimination of the blood test had any relationship to the number of couples who applied for marriage licenses each year. Studying data on state marriage rates between 1980 and 2006, they found that, when blood tests were required, 5.7% fewer licenses were issued
Turns out, it's a three YEAR process.Every year, hundreds of thousands of women take their new husband's names. Not to say the process has become seamless, but it’s less time consuming or involved than filing your taxes. But what if a guy wants to take his wife's name? Common sense says it should be just as easy—but guess again. According to WTLX.com, Michael Buday and Diana Bijon decided to just that, and it took a mere three years to make it official. With the divorce rate as is, it's amazing the couple was still married by the time the paperwork came through...
Fran and Denise (formerly Donald) have a strong relationship—and it has endured more than the common marital issues, according the New York Times. The two married in 1980; Donald completed gender reassignment—to become Denise—some 20 years later. Fran is fine with it. But New Jersey might not be. They worry that their home state will no longer recognize the marriage.
