Chapter 10 Marriage Couples need a license to get marriage status only universal law bout marriage some states charge some states require waiting period o States involvement in statue of marriage is requiring a license o Make sure it is taken back after marriage so it can be logged and state recognizes it In old days states required blood tests to see if woman was pregnant for full disclosure Officiating a marriage different states have different requirements for officials and some states require witnesses Solemnization marriages must be solemnized performance of marriage Renewal of vows most do not need and ordinate or new license but in Texas you do Proxy marriage allows people in different jurisdictions to go through valid marriage ceremony usually in emergency for example in Iraq war most US states don t recognize Common Law or Informal Marriage couples who live together long enough but don t get married the state will impose marriage on you made more sense in the past Putative Marriage when people believe they were married in good faith and find out later there had been something wrong and they were unaware they weren t actually married create spousal economic rights Confidential marriage marriages when there is no public record and was only made public by court order popular in hollywood Void Marriage from the beginning one of the conditions for marriage was missing invalid marriage even without judicial decision because it offends a major public policy concern no way this marriage could be legal Voidable Marriage fails to meet conditions of marriage but is deemed valid unless request made in timely manner offends a lesser public policy and must get court order to annul deemed vali unless timely annulment proceeding Annulment court formally voids a marriage like erasing the marriage Conditions of Marriage o Age every state has specific age today most states recognize 18 Mississippi requires consent under 21 No maximum age Depends on community and norms o Kinship marrying too close to a relative is void Can marry step or adopted sibling if no blood relations o Physical Capacity used to prohibit marriages for someone with genetic disease then mostly focuses on spouse s impotence restricted transsexuals to get married Usual ground is impotency o Mental Capacity both participants must understand the conditions of marriage may not issue if under intoxication or drugs Does person have sufficient IQ Can they comprehend marriage Was the person fully capacitated drugs and alcohol If not grounds for annulment o Fraud both must consent but if consented by fraud then it is void Marriage is a contact and needs to be done openly and honestly Annulment o Force or Duress against public policy marriages can be annulled o Monogamy marriage is one person at a time bigamy is illegal in all states International Polygamy illegal in US and will not recognize it Chapter 11 how marriage affects a woman Fiction of Oneness marital unity unmarried woman s legal identity merged with her husband s identity at time of marriage 1 1 1 prevented wives from keeping names earning acquired in employment owning or managing property choosing their place of residence brining lawsuit getting an education Name changes o At marriage women adopting husband s last name is the biggest evidence of marital unity o During marriage anyone can change their name by common law even after taking husband s name a woman can change back to her name at any point o At divorce in past women could not change to maiden name without husband s consent now they can o Husband s name change more difficult for husband to take wife s name fines court petition only 6 states allow man to change with same ease GA HI IA MA NY ND Under common law woman gave her husband everything she had and husband agreed to support her for life but this was restricted to necessities of life food shelter clothing transportation etc and if the husband failed then a third party store owner who sold to wife could sue husband and he would be responsible he was also responsible for premarital debts Common Law effect of marriage on women o Property Ownership under common law women were required to give husband all her interest in property even if she owned before same with personal property until 1848 NY married women s property so they could keep personal property and real estate from before marriage and gifts of property received during o Home sweet home denied woman a right to call a place home woman could not choose her jurisdiction and husband s jurisdiction was the wives until 1970 did courts recognize this right of women o Careers Employment husband was entitled to wife s earnings until the married woman s property act before men could decide if wife could get educated o Domestic Violence gave husband license to do criminal acts against his wife he could abuse rape etc against it Marital privilege prevents wife from testifying against husband Common law testimonial privilege o Two forms Competency spouse disqualified criminal and civil Privacy of marital communications special privilege Defendant could assert to prevent spouse from testifying to any confidential communication between husband and wife Married woman s testimony disallowance of testimony between a husband and wife women could not testify to criminal charges against husband states still maintain this but federal courts have pulled away Violence women were men s property and he could abuse her without punishment until 1970s now it can be punished but is still a social issue Protective Orders Restraining Orders Peace Orders help victims of domestic violence keep their attackers away often emotional abuse or damage property without fear of physical harm o Process in two parts Victim goes to court and is awarded temporary restraining order TRO and then defendant becomes aware of PO request the defendant gets the order and then must request a hearing which is conducted within 2 21 days with full lawyers and proof must be made if no hearing is requested they will become permanent and usually are good for 1 year Second hearing they will determine if it the TRO will become permanent RO Marriage and Rape until 1980s men were not convicted of raping wife in MD first case was in 2005 Battered Spouse Partner Syndrome defense to murder when a partner admits the action but claims it was self defense because of history of abuse and fear of imminent danger or seriously bodily harm Property crime against spouse