Great Wedding! But Was It Legal?

[snopes]

In an era of six-figure weddings when couples obsess about the band playlist and hand towels for the restrooms, one question may get short shrift: Is the person performing the wedding legally able to do so?

With so many people turning to friends and relatives to perform their marriage ceremonies, more are bound to discover that they may not be legally married.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/fashion/05marry.html

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Does the officiating matter? Isn't the legal key the properly filed marriage license?

Silas

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

Does the officiating matter? Isn't the legal key the properly filed marriage license?

Silas

This is what I was wondering when I read it yesterday. The wedding seems to be just the icing on the cake, so to speak. Couldn't you get a chimp to "officiate" just so long as at the end of the day you had a marriage license?

Originally Posted by Artemis

Couldn't you get a chimp to "officiate" just so long as at the end of the day you had a marriage license?

On ours, we needed 3 signatures, mine, hers, and our "witness", which was the priest.

I don't think a monkey can be a valid witness.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

Then there was this guy, who not only impersonated a Marine, he claimed he was a chaplain and officiated at at least one wedding.

However:

Buddle performed the wedding ceremony, although he wasn’t legally qualified to do so (State laws protect the legality of the marriage under these circumstances).

So it sounds as though in the state of Washington if you believe your officiant is legally qualified, even if he or she isn't, you're still covered.*

ETA: As I recall, we needed our signatures, the officiant's, and two witnesses (best man & matron of honor).

*Not intended as legal advice.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

Does the officiating matter? Isn't the legal key the properly filed marriage license?

In general, yes, but I think the issue is that the officiant is often the one who signs the marriage license, and some lay officiants are not qualified to do so under state laws.

- snopes

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

I don't think a monkey can be a valid witness.

Ahem... One monkey that can witness anything and report about it later!

[tribrats]

A year after our wedding when Hubby and I went to get a copy of our marriage certificate we discovered it had been put in the towns files without being filed to the state. While all our paperwork was correct, legally we were not married according to the state.

The town clerk went through the trouble of having it filed and post-dated for us back to our wedding. So we were then legally married post-dated back to the original date a year after our wedding. Glad we got it worked out when we did though. Even though we didn't know it, we had technically filed our taxes wrongly as a married couple. Not to mention our bank accounts, bills and all the other things we had listed as married.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by tribrats

. . . The town clerk went through the trouble of having it filed and post-dated for us back to our wedding. So we were then legally married post-dated back to the original date a year after our wedding. . . .

You can do time-travel!

Now you have to decide if it is moral to kill the young Adolf Hitler...

Silas ("Paradox, paradox, at common sense he gaily mocks!")

[tribrats]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

You can do time-travel!

Now you have to decide if it is moral to kill the young Adolf Hitler...

Silas ("Paradox, paradox, at common sense he gaily mocks!")

It made sense when I typed it but now I have no idea what I said!

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

On ours, we needed 3 signatures, mine, hers, and our "witness", which was the priest.

I don't think a monkey can be a valid witness.

Well yeah, but as long as you've got a valid witness for the license, then whatever you do at your ceremony is up to you.

[quiltsbypam]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Well yeah, but as long as you've got a valid witness for the license, then whatever you do at your ceremony is up to you.

You can always do whatever you want for a wedding. But for it to be legal, you have to follow the rules. So it depends on what you're after, I guess. You can be married in the eyes of your church but not in the eyes of the state, which kinda puts it on the same footing as gay marriage in the US, except Massachusetts.

I do think people should be aware of the difference.

[KathyB]

One thing the article did not cover is that in many states you can be certified as "officiant for a day." California, for instance says "The commissioner of civil marriages [who is the county clerk] may appoint deputy commissioners of civil marriages who may solemnize marriages under the direction of the commissioner of civil marriages and shall perform other duties directed by the commissioner." Most counties allow anyone to be appointed "deputy for a day" to perform the service.

Pennsylvania has something called a "Self-Uniting Marriage License." No officiant is required.

[Flyer22]

Every poster so far has missed something: the 19 or so states that recognize common-law marriages. Here in Colorado, and the others, not only do you not need a license, you don't need an "official" officiant, and you don't even need a ceremony. In the common-law states at least, the mere act of signing a legal document, such as a tax return, as husband and wife, makes the couple legally married, and they must get an official divorce should they wish to end the marriage.

[ganzfeld]

In many countries, you can't get legally married except by submitting the proper documents at the local government office. Some US practices seem to be a holdover from earlier days when government offices and officials were often far away. (Is this one of those or is the US way common in other places? I recall some European board members commenting on this before but I don't remember what was said.) On the one hand, I like the kind of do-it-yourself, leave-government-out attitude (which also seems to be a US characteristic) but in many cases, letting a wide variety of people perform what is essentially a legal contract seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

[Troberg]

In many countries, you can't get legally married except by submitting the proper documents at the local government office.

Yep, it works this way in Sweden now (the church recently lost the right to legally perform the legal part of the marriage). The ceremony is just for show, the legal marriage happens when the forms are filled in (and witnessed by two persons). Many choose to skip a big official wedding ceremony and just hold a small gathering in private with the closest friends.

[quiltsbypam]

Originally Posted by Troberg

Yep, it works this way in Sweden now (the church recently lost the right to legally perform the legal part of the marriage). The ceremony is just for show, the legal marriage happens when the forms are filled in (and witnessed by two persons). Many choose to skip a big official wedding ceremony and just hold a small gathering in private with the closest friends.

That actually sounds pretty good to me. But if everyone did that, then where would the TV show "Bridezilla" get its shows?

[Embra]

Here in England the legal component of the marriage ceremony can be performed by a Church of England minister or a civil registrar. Mr Embra and I got married in the local register office last Saturday.

I've got the marriage certificate and AFAIK it's all legal and binding. During the ceremony however, I did think for a moment that the registrar was going to stop the proceedings when Mr Embra went for a "comedy moment" and pretended to take a swig of whiskey from a hip flask just before we got to the formalities. He didn't run this by me first, I have to say, but I choose to see it as a final test of my unique qualities of tolerance and love before we tied the knot. Also, frankly, if I had been surprised by this little bit of theatre after 12 years together I really woudn't have had any business getting married to the man

I don't know if it's illegal to drink hard liquor during your wedding ceremony.

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by Embra

I don't know if it's illegal to drink hard liquor during your wedding ceremony.

And you had the perfect opportunity to find out! Congratulations, BTW.