Marriage Licenses — Sebastian, Florida

A Sebastian couple gets a marriage license from the Indian River County Clerk of the Circuit Court, either at the Clerk's Sebastian Office on U.S. 1 or at the courthouse in Vero Beach, with no appointment required.

The Clerk runs two counters for marriage licenses. The Recording Department sits in Room 119 of the Indian River County Courthouse at 2000 16th Avenue in Vero Beach, and the Sebastian Office is at 1921 U.S. 1 (Indian River County Clerk). Appointments are not required to obtain a marriage license at either one. The Sebastian counter shares its address with the Tax Collector's Sebastian Office at Sebastian Corners, 1921 U.S. Highway 1 (Indian River County Tax Collector), so couples from the Sebastian Highlands or Roseland can finish the paperwork without a trip to the Vero Beach courthouse.

The Sebastian days matter. The Clerk's marriage license page gives two closing times for the Sebastian counter: its notice says a license can be obtained there on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., closed from 12:00 to 1:00, while its location section says the Sebastian Office processes marriage licenses from 8:30am to 4:30pm on those days (Clerk marriage license page). The Clerk's contact page lists the North County Annex, Sebastian Office, as open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 am to 5 pm at 772-226-1147 (Clerk contact page), but no Clerk page settles the license cutoff, so a couple planning to arrive after 4:30 pm should call ahead. A couple who arrives at Sebastian Corners on a Tuesday or Thursday has to go to the Vero Beach courthouse instead. Ryan Butler is the Indian River County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller named on the page. Florida residency is not required: the Clerk states that a person need not be a resident of Florida to apply for a marriage license in Indian River County, which covers destination couples marrying at Sebastian Inlet or along the Indian River Lagoon.

An Indian River County marriage license costs $86, or $61 for Florida residents who bring a premarital preparation course certificate, and the Clerk takes cash or credit card only.

Those figures come from the Indian River County Clerk fee schedule (Clerk fee schedule). The marriage license page adds that a fee payable in cash or credit card is required when the application is made and that no other form of payment can be accepted (Indian River County Clerk), so a personal check written in Sebastian will not work at either counter. The course discount is the $25 difference between $86 and $61.

State law builds the price. Section 741.01 of the Florida Statutes adds $25 to every Florida license for the Domestic Violence Trust Fund and another $25 for the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund, and it reduces the fee by $25 for couples who present course certificates for a course taken no more than 1 year before the application (s. 741.01). The course itself must run not less than 4 hours, may be taken together or separately, and ends with a certificate of completion from the provider (s. 741.0305). Providers register with the clerk; the Indian River County Clerk posts an authorized list of providers for couples in Sebastian and the rest of the county.

Sebastian applicants start online at the Clerk's Official Records website, receive a seven digit number, then bring that number and photo identification to the Sebastian Office or Room 119 to sign and pay.

The Clerk lays out the steps in order. A couple completes the Marriage Application at ori.indian-river.org and receives a seven digit number on submission, then brings that number with a driver's license, passport or ID to the Recording Department or the Sebastian Office (Clerk procedure). A Social Security number must be provided on the application, and a person who is not a U.S. citizen may provide an alien registration number or another form of identification. Applicants who have been married before supply the month, day and year the last marriage ended.

Two statements are required before the Clerk can issue the license. Under section 741.04, both parties sign a statement saying whether they completed a premarital preparation course, and a statement that both have read or accessed the handbook on the rights and responsibilities of marriage (s. 741.04). The Indian River County Clerk publishes that Family Law Handbook online in English and Spanish, and it can also be read at the courthouse on arrival (Clerk).

Age is checked at the counter. The Clerk states that persons 18 years of age and older may apply without parental consent (Indian River County Clerk). Applications for anyone under 18 fall under the narrow limits of section 741.04, which bars a license for anyone younger than 17 (s. 741.04), and that limit applies at the Sebastian counter as at the courthouse.

For Florida resident couples in Sebastian without the premarital course, the license takes effect three days after it is bought and stays usable for 57 days, while out-of-state couples and course graduates can marry at once and have 60 days.

The Clerk explains the clock in its procedure list: three days after purchase the license comes into effect and is valid for 57 days, and there is no waiting period if both spouses are from out of state or the couple took the course (Indian River County Clerk). The marriage must be performed within 57 days, or 60 days for out-of-state spouses and course graduates. The outer limit comes from section 741.041, under which a Florida license is valid only for 60 days after issuance and no ceremony may be performed after it expires (s. 741.041).

Section 741.04 sets the 3-day delay for couples without course certificates and requires the effective date to be printed on the license in bold type; the clerk grants exceptions to non-Florida residents and to couples asserting hardship (s. 741.04). For a Saturday wedding at Riverview Park, a resident couple without the course who buys the license at the Sebastian Office on Wednesday is within the window by Saturday.

Who may officiate is set by section 741.07: ordained clergy, judicial officers including retired judges, clerks of the circuit courts and notaries public of Florida (s. 741.07). The Clerk adds that the ceremony must take place within the state of Florida and that witnesses are not required (Clerk), so a license from the Sebastian counter does not cover a ceremony across the state line, even for a couple who lives on Indian River Drive.

After a Sebastian ceremony the signed license must go back to the Indian River County Clerk within 10 days, and the couple receives a certified copy plus the original once it is recorded.

The Clerk states that the completed license must be returned to the Clerk's Office within 10 days following the ceremony, by mail or in person, and that after recording in the Official Records a certified copy is provided along with the original license (Indian River County Clerk). The 10-day deadline applies whichever Sebastian venue hosted the wedding.

A state record follows. The Florida Department of Health says the clerk forwards the recorded license to the Bureau of Vital Statistics for permanent filing, a process of approximately 60 days (Florida Department of Health). Marriage certificates recorded from June 6, 1927 to the present are available from the Bureau, at $15 for the first certificate when ordered through VitalChek, plus a $7 VitalChek processing fee and $4 for each additional certification. Before that state filing is complete, a newly married Sebastian couple can get immediate proof from the Indian River County Clerk, where eCertified copies of recorded instruments cost $9.00 (Clerk fee schedule).

Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the Indian River County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller website, including the marriage license page and fee schedule.