Civil marriage: The one-year sealing wait was discontinued

The decision

The restriction ended by written instruction

The letter bears the signatures of Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, and Henry B. Eyring. It permits couples married civilly to be sealed once they receive temple recommends. Its attached questions and answers specify no fixed interval between the ceremonies.

The same document preserves a separate waiting requirement for newly converted members. Ending the civil-marriage delay did not eliminate all preparation or eligibility requirements.

Scope and explanation

Family inclusion and a worldwide policy

The official announcement explains that civil weddings followed by sealing were already allowed in countries requiring a civil ceremony. The change removed the delay in places where it had applied, bringing the policy into alignment across countries.

The Church described the change as allowing families to participate in a civil wedding when some relatives could not enter a temple. It continued to teach the importance of temple sealing.

The present record

The handbook preserves the new permission

General Handbook section 27.3.1 allows couples already married civilly to be sealed when circumstances permit and they are prepared. The relevant change is the removal of a required delay, not a guarantee of temple admission for every wedding guest.

Finding

What the record establishes

The one-year wait was an actual institutional rule. Its removal changed a practical choice facing couples whose families could not all attend a temple wedding.