These days, when you apply for a marriage license in any state, you are required to provide information about prior marriages. You can lie, naturally, but why on earth do people ask anyway? Can’t the officers at the Clerk’s office just assume that if you are there to get married you’re legal to do so?

Actually, all of this background information has a basis in history. The premarital check is a time honored tradition that goes back for thousands of years. It has the same basis as do criminal background checks of new employees—you can’t trust people to be what they say or to have always been honest.

In the early days, the premarital check consisted of publishing “the banns”, which referred to banners announcing two families joining together. Much like a marriage license application, it had to be done some time before the wedding. In smaller villages, banns served the purpose of letting any relatives that were just too close get everything sorted out before their family tree didn’t fork due to infidelity.

In modern times, a premarital check consists of checking divorce records. While it could prevent siblings from marrying, the larger concern now is with people not being legally free of past marriages, or being sociopaths with multiple marriages to their name. Checking the divorce records is a way to prevent fraud and heartbreak on down the line.

Thus, when you prepare to go to the County Clerk’s office or the Courthouse, don’t grumble so much about needing to have your records about your prior marriages (or lack thereof) sorted out before you arrive. Tradition is designed to protect you from marrying someone who isn’t free to be with you for one reason or another. It may seem like a bit of extra work, but it will save you from disaster in the end.