IN-CUSTODY WEDDINGS BY REVEREND DON
I can help you if you wish to marry a person who is incarcerated in Los Angeles County. However, there is a process that must be closely followed, and you will have to put a lot of effort into making this happen. You must really want this! You must be willing to speak up for yourself as you will be challenged by skepticism and confronted with resistance. I have a complete checklist of every step that you will need to take, but be forewarned that until you can accomplish at least the following 5 steps, I cannot help you, and no one else can either.
1. You must have in your possession the inmates I.D. (valid California I.D. or Drivers License). If the I.D. is with the inmates property, the inmate must sign a Property Release indicating that you can pick up his/her property. The Property Release should be requested at the facility where the inmate is housed. This can be done when visiting. Be sure to ask where the inmates property is being kept so you can go there and pick it up.
2. Know the inmates Booking Number and the address to the L.A. County Jail where he/she is housed. You will be asked for this information many times throughout this process.
3. An Affidavit of Inability to Appear to Obtain Marriage License form and an Application for License and Certificate of Confidential Marriage must be obtained from the County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerks Office. It is very important that you verify that you have the newest forms. (New versions of these documents were released in January 2008.) These forms must be filled out in their entirety.
4. The Affidavit of Inability to Appear form must be signed by:
a) The inmate (This can be done when visiting. Ask the Deputies if they can have him/her sign the form.)
b) You
c) Me
d) A notary. This form must be notarized with you and me present, with a Jurat attached.
5. The Application for License and Certificate of Confidential Marriage must be signed by:
a) The inmate (Same as the Affidavit. This can also be done when visiting)
b) You
Once you have gotten this far then I can go with you to the County Recorder's office to
purchase your marriage license. There are many more steps to the process, but there is
no chance your wedding will happen if you dont get this far first. Please contact me if you
feel you have the persistence you will need to undertake this difficult, time consuming, and
often frustrating challenge, and I will e-mail you the entire step by step process. My fee
for this service is $300 plus $50 per hour for any time I spend with you outside my office.
Based on my experience you should figure a minimum of 5 hours will be needed at best.
Unexpected things could occur that might prevent us from completeing the entire process,
but you will be required to pay for my hourly billing whether we are successful or not.