Marriage-Law.com
March 25, 2011 | 
Author Finding real information on Marriage Laws
Marriage is the most beautiful event that is ever going to happen in one’s life. It signifies a union so strong that it can endure a lifetime of pains and troubles. If you are someone who is planning to get married in the US, it is important that you know about the marriage laws in the country. Each state in the US has its own requirements for a marriage to be conducted within its purview. So where do you get actual information about marriage laws in the state you live in? Marriage-Law.com is a website that caters to people like you who are planning to tie the knot.
Getting married is perhaps the most important decision you will take in your life. Marriage calls for a lot of preparations to be perfect; drawing up the guest list, choosing dresses for yourself and your partner and planning where to go on the honeymoon. As such, you wouldn’t like to be bogged down at the last minute by a certain detail in the marriage laws in your state you did not know about. Use Marriage-Law.com to understand the various legalities involved in a marriage. Here you will also have access to information on the various types of marriages allowed in USA, including Common Law Marriages and Civil Marriages. It also has information on international marriage laws and property laws as well.
Marriage-Law.com is truly a one- stop shop for all your marriage hurdles and doubts. Do browse it well.
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Marriage License
MARRIAGE LICENSE
Marriage happens to be amongst the most wonderful rituals and the most memorable events that can ever happen in a human being’s life .But however soulful and wonderful a thing marriage might be it also has to go through matters very mundane ,the most important among which is to be within the boundaries of legal a procedures.
Marriage license plays a very important role in a marriage. A marriage license is a document issued either by the church or the authority of state. This document actually plays the role of legalizing marriage that authorizes a couple to get married .The procedures and rules of obtaining a marriage license has changed over time. The rule of issuing marriage license has been prevalent from the middle ages to permit a marriage that would otherwise be illegal. Today they have become a requirement of the legal jurisdiction and a marriage is just not possible without them, if signed by the couple and witnessed by others. A wedding license is not required in all jurisdictions while in some jurisdictions a license is not required common law marriages and marriage by cohabitation and representation are also recognized.
The requisites of obtaining a marriage license vary from state to state. The very basic requirements is that the age of the couple should be over 18 years and they must present proper identification like driving license or id card ,birth certificate .In case of the United States more documents are required if couple is born outside the country. They must not be married to anyone else and incase of the demise of their spouse or divorce ,proper documents must be shown to support that.
Many states require a pass of 1-6 days between the marriage ceremony and the granting of the license and the ceremony .After marriage both the spouse and the officiant may sign to declare the marriage as legal.
In United Kingdom marriage licenses were introduced in the 14th century .There were two kinds of marriage license ,the usual was known as common license and the other was called the special license .To obtain a marriage license a couple had to assure that their was no impediment present in their marriage that should stop them from being married .The couple were penalized if the information provided by them while obtaining the license turned out to be false or of wrong content. The same rule still continues but have only evolved and developed set of rules.
A marriage license however does not mean the recording of a marriage in itself .The proof of a marriage has always been a marriage certificate .A marriage license only allows a couple to get married under the legal jurisdiction.
If you are planning to get married ,then make sure you obtain your marriage license going through proper legal steps and provide authentic informations otherwise you might land up in trouble.
Common Law Marriage
A basic idea about Common law marriages
Common law marriages are permitted in a few states. As you must already be aware of, there are two kinds of marriages: statutory and common law. A legal marriage that is entered into under a state of law requires a marriage license and an exchange of vows before witnesses. Many people think that common law marriages mean living together; but that is far from fact. This article provides a few little-known facts about common law marriages.
Common marriage laws state that a marriage of the category can be considered valid only if the following points are met:
- Both the partners are at least of the minimum age required for a legal marriage.
- Both the partners hold themselves out to the public as husband and wife.
- Live together or cohabit for a certain period of time.
- The couple meets these requirements in a state where common law marriages are recognized.
State marriage law requires a proof that the couple has cohabited for a certain period of time. This time period may vary from state to state. But it will be wrong to suppose that cohabitation is the only requirement here. Some states do not have a set requirement for cohabitation. It is a good idea to check with an attorney.
“Holding out” is another important requirement that will prove the validity of a common law marriage. It requires oral testimony from the couple concerned that their community, friends and employers knew them as husband and wife; oral testimony from witnesses stating that they considered the couple as husband and wife and financial statements such as bank records, property deeds, income tax returns, leases, loan applications and other financial records that identify the couple as husband and wife.
Though most states in the United States of America have abolished common law marriages that were not created inside its borders under the Civil Marriage Law, it is a form of marriage that is recognized in states such as Alabama, Kansas, Montana, Colorado, Iowa, Rhode Island, Texas, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. States such as Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Utah recognize this form of marriage under certain circumstances. For people who are contemplating this form of marriage, it would be a good idea to consult an attorney to know more. Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution requires that all states validate and recognize common law marriages that were created in another state even of they themselves have abolished them.
There are various reason why more and more people are considering common law marriages instead of a simple live-together. Following are the most important:
- The right to worker’s compensation, death benefits, survivor Social Security benefits and survivor pension benefits.
- Right to the property that had been leased to a deceased partner.
- Right to share of property of deceased partner.
Common law marriage laws have become important in the law field because of the increasing number of people considering it.
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International Marriage Laws
A basic idea about International Marriage Laws
Knowledge of international marriage laws is important if you want to understand the very old institution of marriage. The legal union of two people is something that holds interest of people all around the world. Though different countries have different laws regarding marriage, the underlying notion that marriages are sacred is omnipresent. It is also a good idea to research the marriage laws of a country if you want to have a more specific view of their culture. This article throws light on the basic marriage laws of China, Mexico and Canada. International marriage laws have some common principles though their appearance may vary a lot.
China: In ancient times, it was common for a man to have multiple wives. But since the year 1950, the Chinese marriage law has made it unlawful and illegal to have more than one wife. Arranged marriages are still common in present China though a lot of young people choose their own spouses. But parental approval is still a must. The China Marriage Law suggests that a marriage will be considered invalid if either party is a bigamist, if either party has a disease that is considered as being rendering the person having it unfit for marriage, if the parties are in such a kinship that is not permitted by law or if either party is not of the legitimate age to get married.
Mexico: Mexico marriage law prevents people below the age of 18 years to marry without parental consent. Wit parental consent, girls over the age of 14 and boys over the age of 16 can get married legally. For people who are not residents of Mexico, a valid passport and a Tourist card or Visa is necessary. Some states will require a copy of the birth certificates of the couple. Also, for a person who is not a Mexican citizen and wants to marry one, an authorization letter from the National Institute for Migration (Instituto Nacional de Migración) will be necessary. Mexico marriage laws also allow same-sex marriages in the state of Coahuuila and Mexico City.
Canada: Canadian marriage laws allow the civil marriage of people who are above the age of 18 years. People who are below the age of 18 and above the age of 16 years may get married but they should have parental consent under the marriage laws of Canada. A male minor who is under the age of 16, may not get married in Canada under any circumstances. But it may be possible for a girl below the age of 16 to get married if it can be proven that she is pregnant or is the mother of a living child. Canada marriage laws allow the legal union of same-sex couples and cousins by birth. Common law marriages though, are not recognized. People who want to marry in Canada may not necessarily be residents of the place, but the application must come from the couple together. Also widowed or divorced people need to provide the death certificate of spouse or Certificate of Divorce, whichever is applicable, to prove the annulment of their previous marriage.
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Divorce Lawyers
How to choose a Divorce Lawyer?
The break-up of a marriage is never easy. It can be an extremely traumatic experience for most people. If you are planning to divorce your spouse, you must be looking to hire a divorce lawyer. Though there may be lots of divorce lawyers in your area, choosing the right one for the job may take a little time and patience. Don’t make the mistake of opening the newspaper and choosing the first divorce attorney you find in the ad section. Here are a few tips to help you out:
- Skills and experience: It is important that you find a divorce lawyer who is familiar with divorce laws and has some experience in the field. In case your divorce proceedings need a lot of negotiating, it is a good idea to choose someone who is adept at compromise, is a good problem-solver, is easy with people and is good in court. If from the beginning you know that your divorce will go to court for a settlement, check out an attorney who has a good success record in court. Selecting a lawyer for divorce who is familiar with the judges in your area is also a great idea. If your financial situation is not an easy one and you presume that there will be a lot of hurdles in coming to a settlement in that area, select a family law attorney who is easily conversant in financial matters.
- Personal style: If you want an attorney who will just look over the divorce papers for you, looking at personal styles of lawyers may not matter that much. But if you want more than that to be done, choose someone you know you will be comfortable with discussing issues of your marriage, separation, child custody, personal life and finances. Also remember, divorce lawyers are not a substitute for a therapist and you should not waste your time by complaining about your spouse. Going for a co-operative, calm and cool lawyer for divorce is the best.
- Affordability: If you don’t have a lot to spend on your divorce proceedings, it may not be such a bad idea to hire a family law attorney who is relatively inexperienced in the field. Not only will he be a lot cheaper, he may also work harder on your case to prove his mettle. Most lawyers dealing with marriage-divorce laws charge on an hourly basis. Very few will agree to a flat rate. This is because divorce is difficult and it is not easy to decide up-front the amount of time and effort it may take. But if it is easy to see that your divorce proceedings are going to be amicable, and the job of the attorney is extremely well-defined, then you may find someone who will take a flat fee. Find a divorce lawyer based on how you think it is going to be.
Choosing the right divorce lawyer may take you time but you will thank yourself for the effort later on.
Marriage Lawyers
Why you should hire a marriage lawyer?
Marriage lawyers are an important tribe in the lawyer community for the simple reason that they deal with family law and marriage. Marriages are important in society and are looked upon as something that should be respected and dignified. Even though marriage as an institution has world-wide respect, the truth is that they erode sometimes. The end of a marriage is a truly traumatic experience most of the times. Both parties in a marriage are usually sad about it. Some people are so heartbroken that they cannot deal with a divorce or any of its consequences. Some are wary of the choices they have. In all cases of breakdown of civil marriages, a marriage attorney helps the parties deal with divorce a lot better.
The reason why marriage attorneys are a good idea is because they are the ones who can easily highlight the appropriate routes that the parties can take. Each family is unique and the problems afflicting them are unique too. A lawyer can handle marriage breakdown proceedings a lot better because he has a good knowledge about the family law of the state concerned.
A lot of people want to handle the proceedings of divorce on their own as they think it would be a good cost-saving measure. But this is not really the right decision. This is because common people do not have the knowledge about legal rights that a divorce entails and its other consequences. Legal outcomes and what steps need to be taken to deal with the divorce better are things that a marriage attorney can handle best.
If you or someone you know is thinking of divorce, remember that hiring a marriage lawyer to deal with the legal aspects is a good idea. It not only means that you will not have to bother about the legal hurdles of divorce, but it also means that it will be easier for you to deal with more pressing family matters. A divorce is never easy, especially if it involves children. Breaking the news of divorce to children is a tough thing to do and many parents keep it off till the last moment only because they don’t have the time. But telling the children about the divorce is extremely important and it is necessary that you take time out to sit with them and give them the reasons for the decision and why it would be better for the family as a whole if the divorce happened.
Having a conversation with a marriage lawyer will help you make the ideal decision for everyone’s well being including you and your children, if any. Choose a marriage lawyer who deals with family law including marriage, separation and divorce. A marriage attorney will help you decide whether you should go for a Fault divorce, No-fault divorce or a Mediated divorce. Matters of division of present and future property also become easier to solve in the presence of a lawyer. Hiring the services of a family attorney will make the break-up a lot easier to handle.
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Court Marriage
Court marriage
Getting married can be the best possible way a couple can give shape to their love life .Marriage not only gives a social recognition to a relationship but it is a wonderful feeling to be with the loved one. Sometimes due to the demand of circumstances a marriage has to be done in the court instead of an extravagant celebration. A court marriage involves a number of complexities and legal procedures and is certainly not something that can be considered to be very simple.
Getting a court marriage is pretty complex. A registered court marriage or more legally termed as special marriage act can take place between any two native individuals or even one native and other foreign individual irrespective of cast , creed and religion. Such a marriage takes place in front of the registrar of the marriage office and the cost of marriage is not very high and pretty much affordable. But the procedure has to be within legal boundaries.
Both the parties to begin with must file a joint application to the marriage officer and an individual affidavit by notary public specifying the age of the couple that has to be above 18 years. Along with this correct informations regarding marital status (divorced or unmarried, mental health status (in fit state or unfit state of mind), place or residence as well. Along with the above documents the couple must provide the required age proof that can be in the form of school leaving certificate , a pan card or a driving license and the application of a court wedding in general cases is supposed to be witnessed by three people at least.
The marriage registrar on receiving such an application a marriage officer issues a month notice regarding the marriage that is being intended and gets a notice affixed on the board outside his office and sends a copy of notice to marriage officer under the jurisdiction of which the other party lives Another copy is send to the individual parties `addresses. After the expiry date of the notice the couple and three witnesses are supposed to report to the marriage office and the officer declares them married. He provides the party with a marriage certificate that officially certifies them as married. There might be cases were a court marriage procedure might be hindered by objections. Objections might be raised due to a certain reasons like age , marital status and prohibited relationships (having blood relationships).It is always good to engage a lawyer to avoid complications .In most cases due to the absence of a lawyer parties have to go through harassment and exploitations.
Having proper documents and proofs of the requirements for a court marriage ,things can get perfect and even more convenient than the traditional procedure leaving apart the cost saving part of the marriage.
Marriage Property Law
Marriage property law
Marriage can be the most wonderful episode in a person’s life. But in spite of being such a soulful matter marriage too has to be within the procedures of the law. If proper knowledge of legal matters are not followed then a marriage can lead to problems that might get complicate. Law in case of marriage is different for different aspects ,that is there are different set of laws for different factors of a marriage .The Marriage property law is one of the most important of such set of laws.
Marriage or marital property can be defined as all property that is acquired after marriage .There is a whole set of law that is related to rights to marital property. To begin with the discussion, we must know what exactly is considered as marriage property and what is not according to the law. The court cannot assign any law about properties that are non marital and that is why the very first thing done by the court is to determine what can be considered as a marital property .Plainly any property acquired by the spouse before marriage can be considered as non marital property .Similarly all property acquired after marriage by a spouse can be considered as property of marriage. If the property is of marriage then the court should divide it equitably.
Any property, as stated above can be considered as marital , however they have a few exceptions to their case. These include a number of conditions as the following.
Firstly If the property is acquired through descent ,gift ,legacy.
Secondly if the property is acquired through the exchange of property before the marriage or in exchange of property acquired by gift of legacy or decent.
Thirdly property acquired by a spouse after judgment of legal separation.
Fourthly Property that is excluded by the valid agreement of his party.
Lastly, Property that is acquired before marriage.
The Marriage property states that married couples have the right and privileges of equal sharing of properties. There used to be a presumption that all the properties kept during marriage regardless of pre marital possession by either of the spouse can be shared.
Initially ,however playing an exception to these rule, was the case of defacto couples which include man and woman ,or a woman and a woman or a man and a man.They happen to live together as a couple but are not married both being 18 years of age or above without any upper limit. Defacto couples were deprived of the Marriage property Law .They were included under ordinary property law act hat stated the property owned jointly would be divided equally while the property owned singularly might not be shared if please. However the act was amended and was bracketed within the Marriage property law from February 2002. .
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Marriage Act
Understanding the Marriage Act in the United States of America
There are different laws related to marriage in different states of the USA. However as per the US constitution, marriage between two people of opposite sex performed in either of the states is recognized in all the other states. The same sex marriage did not have this freedom until 2004. Now such marriages are legal in some of the states in America.
There are some marriage requirements set by law for people who want to get married. They are as follows:
- Man and women who wish to tie the knot are required to be at least 18 years old. If they are younger the specified age, then their parents’ consent is a must. In some circumstances like pregnancy or child birth prior to marriage, the respective courts in the states may give consent to the marriage even if the minimum age for marriage is not reached.
- Marriage license given by clerk of the court or county clerk is required.
- The marriage ceremony has to be performed. It does not necessarily be a traditional wedding ceremony. If the man and woman sign a marriage certificate in the presence of some witnesses, the marriage is considered to be performed as per the rituals.
- Blood test is one of the main marriage requirements in most of the states in the USA. This allows both the spouses know about the health related issues of each other before marrying.
- If any of the spouses was previously married, then he/she has to produce the proof of the termination of the previous marriage by stating the reason for such termination, death of the spouse, divorce or invalidation of the marriage.
The requirements vary from state to state and change from time to time. Therefore it is necessary to find out the latest requirements as per your state’s laws and marriage act before solemnizing marriage.
There is a special marriage act in India for people of the countries other than India marrying Indian national, however there is no such special marriage act in the USA. If the US citizen gets married to citizen of other country as per the laws of that particular country, they have to abide by the laws of the state they live in. They have to fulfill the requirements set by the particular state they stay in to validate their marriage.
Marriage protection act has been proposed to safeguard marriages from the problems faced by people due to divorce or annulment of marriage. The defense of marriage act defines marriage as a legal alliance of two people of opposite sex and not a same sex union. Most of the states have their own Defense of marriage act and some of the states have started acknowledging same sex marriages since 2004. The various laws regarding marriage provide certain rights and punishments or consequences to both married and unmarried people. People are required to follow the laws set by the state they stay in.
Gay Marriage Laws
Gay Marriage Laws In Different Parts Of The Country:
There is a huge controversy in every country as to whether legalize the same sex marriage or not. Lesbian and gay face the same kind of problems everywhere. They fight for their legal rights which cannot be snatched away in the name of laws. The laws for gay marriage differ from state to state in the US. For example, the State of Alabama does not permit same sex marriage. It says that a marriage contracted between the individuals of the same sex is not valid in this part of the country. The state of Alaska, Arizona and Arkansas also has the same legal procedures and has banned the same sex marriage. Gay marriage laws are even stricter in other parts of the country. However, the court of California has officially passed the verdict that the right to marry in California is equally extendable to all irrespective of the gender of bride and groom involved in the marriage.
There is possibly no new marriage laws passed in any of the states and mostly people are against such motions. They generally believe that its an act against the nature and should not be continued. New marriage laws do not support such factor because of the recent scientific studies which reveal that the probability of getting anal cancer and other such diseases is more in case of same sex marriage. District of Columbia accepts the gay marriages that take place in other states. However, it must be reviewed by the Congress before the approval.
The State of Hawaii has even passed gay marriage constitution which bans the same sex marriage. This state particularly has some laws which give legal rights to gay relationships. These rights are given to protect the interest of such gay partners and lesbians. A constitutional amendment was passed in the State of Kentucky in the year 2004 banning same sex marriage. Maryland has a traditional law that is 33 years old which upholds the verdict that a marriage is an union between a man and a woman. It strictly prohibits gay marriage. State of Mississippi also passed a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. The court officials and the politicians are strictly in favor of banning such kinds of marriages in these places.
There might be great relief for the gay lovers as the State of New Hampshire has approved gay marriage through its new marriage laws that is effective from January 1, 2010. States like New Jersey, New Mexico and New Carolina do not have any law that prohibits gay marriages. There are no special constitutional amendments against these people. The state officials give varied reasons to ban gay marriage. These couples have to face stricter economic challenges when compared with the normal couples. There are lot more difficulties and obstacles to be crossed and it might make their life pathetic. This also becomes a religious issue at times and it becomes highly unbearable. Hence, experts are of the opinion that it is better to live with nature and not acting against it.