The Justice of the Peace Association’s membership is opposed to child marriages. The US State Department called child marriage a human rights abuse. Many JPus members have stated that they would not perform them. Consequently, JPus has advocated to end all marriages involving children younger than 18 years of age. Coalition to End Child Marriage Following a fall 2018 vote of its members, the Justice of the Peace Association proudly joined the National Coalition to End Child Marriage in the United States. The coalition brings together organizations and individuals working toward passage of federal legislation to help end child marriage […]

Updated August 10, 2020 States and municipalities are reeling, trying to establish systems for what used to be routine business of government. Included in the mix is the processing of legal marriages. In Massachusetts, there has been a lack of direction or guidance – for JPs, clerks and couples. Many marriages have already been planned and need to be postponed. Other times, marriages are essential (health benefits, immigration issues, emotional duress), and need to proceed. There needs to be a plan to address both circumstances. Responsible, professional JPs have been role models. They completed COVID training certification for marriage officiants, and […]

Always looking to build relationships between officiants, or strengthen collaboration with our partners, networking is an important aspect of JPus. Networking Between Officiants Providing opportunities for JPs, notaries and other officiants to get to know each other promotes growth – and learning! Naturally, this helps our members do better ceremonies. Therefore, when we are able we hold networking social events at various locations. Since COVID, we Zoom! These gatherings provide opportunities for personal and more intimate conversations. See our Zoom schedule and recordings of previous sessions. In-Person Before the pandemic, we got together in-person. We hope to resume these events […]

Don’t be caught behind the times. Stay current on new laws that affect JPs and notaries. Connecticut Gender Neutral Terms on Marriage License Effective July 1, 2021, the terms Bride and Groom are no longer on Connecticut marriage licenses, replaced with Spouse 1 and Spouse 2. Read how JPus took action to make this validating change happen. Race Information Not Collected The marriage license application will no longer seek a couple’s race, effective July 1, 2021. Probate Judge Required for 16, 17 Year Olds to Marry Effective October 1, 2017, in addition to parental consent, anyone under the age of […]

Updated July 13, 2020 When it comes to amateur officiants in New Hampshire, the Justice of the Peace Association fights diligently on behalf of our members.That is because logic and righteousness are on our side. We’ve done the research. We’ve explored alternatives. We’ve built allies. And we played by the rules. A Quick Summary In June 2019, the legislative session ended with an upset. The special marriage officiant bill died after the Senate President blocked it – based on the problems raised by JPus. While we were successful, we also knew that our work wasn’t done. The bill would be […]