Marriage law

Marriage law

Marriage law

Marriage law is a form of marriage that is recognized without legal and civil formalities such as a marriage license or a ceremony and includes all of the rights, privileges, and duties of formal marriage. This form of marriage was an important recognition of rights for early settlers in the United States, where access to “legal” marriage was limited simply by the distances one would have to travel to be formally married by a member of the clergy or state official. However, the legal concept of marriage law in the 20th century has almost completely died out through legislative changes and the relative ease of getting married in our increasingly mobile society. It is a legal concept entirely created in law and is generally determined by a court of law and rarely defined by statute. Only a handful of states still recognize it as a valid form of marriage. The reasons for abolishment of the recognition of marriage law in most states range from religious beliefs to beliefs by legislatures that the recognition was no longer necessary.

Marriage law has its roots, like so much of American law, in English law. It began as a type of marriage entered into sponsalia per verba de praesenti (by present words and not ceremony) in ecclesiastical law. Marriage law in England could be accomplished in two ways, as above, through mutual assent in words of the present tense, or through mutual assent to marriage in the future, followed by sexual intercourse (sponsalia per verba de futuro cum copula). Marriage law continued in England until the passage of Lord Hardwicke's Act in 1753, which enacted certain formal requirements essential for recognition of a valid marriage. The institution of marriage law followed the first English and European settlers to America.

The most common myth concerning marriage law is that a couple has to live together for 7 years. Marriage law has no requirement of living together for a certain number of years. The specific requirements for a valid marriage law vary from state to state. In Kansas, for example, there are three requirements: (1) that the parties have the capacity to marry; (2) that the parties hold out each other to the public as husband and wife; and (3) that the parties have a present agreement between them to be married. Other states that recognize marriage law have similar requirements.

While legal definitions differ from state to state, capacity to marry includes having the requisite mental or physical capacity to marry, not already being married to someone else, not being too closely related to the person, and being of a sufficient age to marry.

Evidence of many different activities can constitute holding out to the public as husband and wife. These activities can include living together, using the same last name, having joint bank accounts, filing joint tax returns, owning property jointly, introducing each other as husband and wife to friends, family, or the public, and many other marital ...