Search Lancaster County Marriage and Divorce Records

How to Get a Lancaster County Marriage License

A Lancaster County marriage license is issued by the County Clerk, Matt Hansen, at 555 South 10th Street, Room 108 in Lincoln. Both applicants must come in together. No appointment is needed. The office stays open through lunch. The marriage license hotline at 402-441-8448 answers most setup questions before the visit. There is no waiting period under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-104, and the license is valid for one year from issue.

Bring a U.S. driver's license, state ID, or a valid passport. Birth certificates do not work as proof of identity. The county also asks for a Social Security number if the applicant has one, the parents' full names, the mother's maiden name, parents' birthplaces, and any prior marriage end date. People who finalized a Nebraska divorce must wait six months and one day after the judge granted the decree before applying for a new Nebraska license. The age of majority in Nebraska is 19. Applicants who are 17 or 18 need notarized parent or guardian consent. Anyone under 17 cannot get a Nebraska license.

1. Fill out the Lancaster County marriage license application worksheet before the visit so the in-person step moves fast.
2. Both applicants travel to the Lancaster County Clerk at 555 South 10th Street, Room 108, during office hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
3. Show photo ID at the counter. Confirm Social Security numbers, parent details, and any prior marriage end date.
4. Pay the $25 marriage license fee. A credit or debit card adds a small service fee. Cash and check are also accepted.
5. Sign the oath in front of the clerk. Both applicants finalize the application together.
6. Take the license packet, which holds the license, certificate, return envelope, and officiant instructions, to the ceremony.

The license is valid only for ceremonies held in Nebraska. There is no in-state residency rule, so out-of-state couples may marry in Lancaster County. The license can be used the same day it is issued. Read more about the law that backs each step at the statute link above.

The Nebraska statute on marriage license requirements lays out who may marry and what each license must show on its face, as detailed by the Nebraska Legislature.

The statute page is the source that the Lancaster County Clerk uses when staff verify ages, prior-marriage waiting time, and identity rules at the counter.

Lancaster County Marriage License Application Fields

The Lancaster County marriage license application worksheet asks for the same data both applicants must give at the counter. The list below comes from the county PDF used at intake. Fill it out at home. Names should match the birth certificate. Use black ink. Skip any field that does not apply, and let the clerk flag the conditional rows during review.

The form has space for both parties on a single sheet. The clerk uses the data to build the license that the officiant signs after the ceremony. Mistakes on the worksheet slow the visit and may force a return trip if a parent name or birth fact does not match the source document.

Certified Copies of Lancaster County Marriage Records

Lancaster County certified marriage copies are sold by the County Clerk under a flat $9-per-copy fee. The clerk's office holds Lancaster marriage records from mid-June 1976 forward. For 1909 through mid-June 1976, the county directs requests to Nebraska DHHS Vital Records. For records before 1913, the county points to the Nebraska State Historical Society. Historical indexes from 1871 through 2006 also exist as male and female PDFs.

There are three ways to order a certified copy. Each one starts with the same form. Emailed request forms are not accepted. The Certified Copy of Marriage License page on the county site lays out the full request rules.

• In person: Walk into Room 108 at 555 South 10th Street with photo ID and payment. Same-day pickup in most cases.
• By mail: Send the certified request form, a copy of valid photo ID, and payment to Lancaster County Clerk, 555 South 10th Street, Room 108, Lincoln NE 68508.
• Online: The county clerk page lists an online request route alongside mail and in person. Card fees apply.

Mail requesters must attach a copy of valid photo ID. Without that copy, the clerk cannot release the certified record. Cards add a service fee of $1.25 or 2.35 percent, whichever is greater. A common one-license-plus-one-copy fee total runs to $34 when both are bought together at the counter.

Certified copies are needed for legal use such as a name change, immigration filing, Social Security update, insurance change, or pension claim. A plain printed search result does not work for those filings. Order extras when ordering for the first time to avoid a second trip later.

How to Find Lancaster County Divorce Records

Lancaster County divorce records sit with the Clerk of the District Court, Simon G. Rezac, at 575 South 10th Street, 3rd Floor, in Lincoln. Divorce is a district-court matter in Nebraska, not a county-clerk matter. The quick contact number for divorce questions is 402-441-7328. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Older paper files may need a phone request before any walk-in pull.

The online search runs through the statewide Nebraska Judicial Branch case system. A one-time party-name search on the JUSTICE site costs $17 and returns up to 30 cases. Repeat users open a Nebraska.gov subscriber account for cheaper detail views. Free walk-in case search is also offered at Bennett Martin Public Library in downtown Lincoln. For the full search walkthrough, see the Lancaster County court records page.

1. Open the JUSTICE One-Time Court Case Search and agree to the terms.
2. Enter the party's last name first; add a first name if the result list is too long.
3. Pay the $17 fee. The fee applies even when no record is found.
4. Filter results by Court Type set to District and County set to Lancaster, then by case prefix DR for domestic relations.
5. Open the case to view the register of actions, hearings, financial ledger, and any document images after April 16, 2008.
6. For decrees older than the digital window, call the Clerk of the District Court at 402-441-7328 and ask for a manual pull.

Divorce in Nebraska is filed as a dissolution of marriage. The state requires one party to have been a Nebraska resident for at least one year before filing, with limited exceptions. There is a 60-day wait between filing and the entry of the final decree. The judge who hears the case is a district-court judge for the Third Judicial District in Lancaster.

What Lancaster County Divorce Records Show

A full Lancaster County divorce file holds far more than the final decree. The case captures every filing from the first complaint through the closing order. Public access to the file is broad, but the court redacts sealed material, child detail, and financial identifiers.

Most of these fields are visible in the One-Time Search detail page. Sealed exhibits, juvenile names, and protected addresses stay out of the public view. The clerk can confirm what is on file and what was sealed when staff pull the paper jacket at the counter.

Fees for Lancaster County Marriage and Divorce Records

The fee schedule below blends the Lancaster County Clerk's marriage fees with the Nebraska Supreme Court statewide filing fee schedule used by the district court for divorce cases. Card payments add a service fee. Cash and check are accepted at the counter.

The full Nebraska filing fees and court costs schedule took effect July 1, 2025 and lists each civil case type for the district court, including dissolution. The Nebraska.gov subscriber site also notes fee updates set for January 1, 2026, so verify the live amount before paying for repeat divorce searches.

Sealed Divorce, Protection Orders, and Confidentiality

Most divorce records are open to the public, but several pieces stay out of view. Sealed exhibits, sealed protection orders, juvenile names, adoption files, and protected identifiers do not appear in JUSTICE. Mental-health filings and certain financial identifiers are also stripped under the court records search policy. A party who needs sealed material must usually be on the case, have an attorney appearance, or get a court order.

Domestic-violence protection orders may live alongside the divorce file. The court can grant ex-parte relief, then schedule a hearing within a short window. The order text becomes part of the file. The protected party's address is removed from the public record. Anyone unsure of the public-access status of a record should call the Clerk of the District Court before paying for a JUSTICE search.

Set-aside relief for adult criminal records does not apply to divorce decrees. A divorce decree stays public unless the court sealed the case for good cause at the time of filing. Decrees from out-of-state divorces are filed in Nebraska only when a party seeks local enforcement or modification.

Solemnization and Officiant Rules

The ceremony must be led by a person allowed to solemnize marriages under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-108. The list includes any judge, any retired judge, any clerk magistrate, any retired clerk magistrate, and any preacher of the gospel authorized by the rules of the denomination. Two witnesses must sign the license along with the officiant.

The officiant must return the signed license to the issuing county within 15 days of the ceremony. Lancaster County sends couples home with a small packet that holds the license, the certificate, an officiant instructions sheet, and a pre-addressed return envelope. Use black ink. Print legibly. The county clerk records the return, then the marriage is on file for certified-copy orders.

The state statute on solemnization spells out who counts as an officiant and what duties they take on after the ceremony.

The page above is the same statute the county clerk cites in the officiant packet, which keeps the return window and the witness rule clear for every Lancaster County wedding.

Statewide Vital Records and Older Marriage Files

Lancaster County only holds marriage records from mid-June 1976 forward. Older Nebraska marriage events go to two state bodies. Nebraska DHHS Vital Records holds marriage data for 1909 through mid-June 1976. The Nebraska State Historical Society holds the oldest events from before 1913. Both bodies have their own request routes and fees that sit outside the county clerk's office.

Historical Lancaster County marriage indexes from 1871 through 2006 exist as male and female PDF indexes. The index gives the names, the date, and the book and page. Researchers use the index to identify a record, then order the certified copy from the right office based on the year of the marriage.

For other county-level non-court files, see the Lancaster County public records page and the County Clerk's request page on the County Clerk page.

County Clerk Records Request Route

The Lancaster County Clerk's office takes written requests by mail, by email, or in person at Room 108. Email requests go to coclerk@lancaster.ne.gov. The clerk's office maintains Lancaster marriage records since mid-June 1976, plus County Board agendas, minutes, contracts, resolutions, declarations, and proclamations. The clerk's page is clear that it does not hold County Court or District Court records, and it does not hold records for other county or city departments.

Fees for non-marriage research work climb after the first four hours of staff time. Beyond four hours, the rate is $20 per hour. Beyond eight hours, the clerk uses the regular hourly staff rate. IT extraction work is billed at the IT staff rate. A flash drive is sold at the cost of the device. For most marriage-record requests, none of those extra fees apply because the lookup is short.

• Email: coclerk@lancaster.ne.gov, with the request form attached when ordering a certified copy.
• Mail: Lancaster County Clerk, 555 South 10th Street, Room 108, Lincoln NE 68508.
• In person: Walk into Room 108 with photo ID and payment.
• Phone questions: Marriage license hotline 402-441-8448; general clerk phone 402-441-7481; records line 402-441-7484.

Lancaster County Records Request Page

The county runs a single Records Requests landing page that links every department-level request route, including the County Court route, the District Court route, and the County Clerk route. It is a good first stop for anyone unsure which office holds the file they need. The Lancaster County Records Requests page sets out the email, phone, and form options for each office.

The records page links the County Clerk, the County Court, and the Clerk of the District Court side by side, so users do not have to guess which office holds the marriage license, the divorce decree, or the court case file.

Related Lancaster County Record Searches

For the full court case search system, see Lancaster County court records. The county clerk's office and the marriage license fee page sit on the County Clerk page. The Clerk of the District Court is profiled on the Clerk of the District Court page. For estate, will, and guardianship matters, see Lancaster County probate records. For non-court public files and the open-records request route, see Lancaster County public records.