Summit County is where a lot of Colorado elopements actually happen: Sapphire Point above Dillon Reservoir, Loveland Pass on the Continental Divide, the ceremony decks at Breckenridge and Keystone. It makes sense to want your license from the county you are marrying in. You do not need to, since any Colorado clerk’s license works statewide, but if you want the Summit County one, the rules are tighter than almost anywhere else in the state and worth reading before you book flights.
Who Summit County serves, and how
The Summit County Clerk and Recorder sorts couples into three groups, and each gets a different process.
You live outside Colorado. Appointments are required. They can be booked for any open time in the next four weeks, first come, first served, and the county asks each couple to book only one slot. There are four slots a day, Monday through Friday, except on observed holidays: 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Without an appointment you cannot apply. The county also warns that because appointments are limited, staff may suggest you get your license from another county clerk.
You live in Summit County. Come in during regular business hours and you will be served without an appointment.
You live elsewhere in Colorado. There is no legal residency rule, but the county asks Colorado residents to get their license from the clerk in their home county. If you live in Denver, use the Denver clerk or the Jefferson County clerk in Golden.
Where to go
The county’s offices are at 208 E. Lincoln Ave. in Breckenridge, a few blocks off Main Street. The county’s marriage page does not list separate clerk hours, and the office notes that it shares space with several divisions of county government, so confirm the location in your appointment confirmation and allow time for parking in town.
What to bring
Both of you must be present; Summit County does not take remote or advance applications. You can fill out and print the marriage license application ahead of time to save a few minutes at the counter.
Each of you needs one valid photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport. The county says it does not need a birth certificate or anything else unless you have unusual circumstances and have spoken with clerk staff before your visit. If either of you does not have a Social Security number, bring the county’s no SSN affidavit, one per person; copies are also available in the office.
If either of you is under 18, the county asks you to contact it before visiting, because additional documents such as parental or judicial consent are needed. State law requires judicial approval for 16 and 17 year olds; our Colorado marriage laws page explains.
Decide how you will be married before you arrive
This is the detail most couples miss. Summit County asks you to know your type of solemnization when you apply, so staff can hand you the right sample for filling out the certificate. The three choices are:
- Religious: an officiant from a denomination of your choosing
- Civil: a judge, retired judge, magistrate or justice of the peace of your choosing
- Self solemnization: no officiant, the two of you sign as the parties who solemnized the marriage
Staff will not choose for you, and the clerk’s office does not provide officiants. The county says it needs no paperwork from officiants who perform ceremonies in Summit County. If you are leaning toward marrying yourselves, read our self solemnization guide first.
Only the two of you, and not a ceremony site
Summit County is unusually direct about this: the office cannot accommodate anyone other than the two people applying, with exceptions for children and ADA assistance, and it is not a location for a ceremony with an audience of any size. Leave the family at the coffee shop.
The fee
The counter price is $39. That is the $30 license plus three certified copies at $3 each, which staff add automatically. Those copies are useful later for a name change. Additional certified copies are $3 each and can be requested by email after your license is recorded in Summit County.
Using it and returning it
Your license is valid for 35 days from the date it is issued and works only for a ceremony in Colorado. After the ceremony, the signed certificate goes back to the clerk who issued it. State law, C.R.S. 14-2-109, gives you 63 days and sets a late fee of at least $20, rising $5 a day up to $50. The license and certificate are on one sheet; keep them together and photograph the signed page before you mail it.
Common law and civil unions
Summit County issues civil union licenses by the same process and at the same cost; non residents need an appointment. The clerk does not facilitate common law marriage, beyond recording a common law marriage affidavit that a couple has prepared, signed before a notary and brought in during business hours.
Timing it with Sapphire Point
The most popular Summit County ceremony site is Sapphire Point Overlook, reserved on Recreation.gov in three hour blocks for up to 30 people. A workable plan for an out of state couple: book the Sapphire Point block, then book a 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. clerk appointment for a weekday within 35 days before it. If no slot is open, pick up your license in Golden on the drive up from Denver; it is the same license.
The Summit County planning guide covers Loveland Pass, the resort decks, the seasons and a sample day, and the statewide license guide compares the other mountain clerks in Eagle, Pitkin and San Miguel counties. When the date is set, browse Summit County vendors.
Related reading: our Breckenridge elopement guide.
