- Law

Some Essential Marriage Laws to Guide You

In the United States, marriage laws differ from state to state. A man and a woman, whose marriage was performed in a different state, will have their marriage recognized in the state they go to, provided the laws from where they came from were followed to the letter. The following are some of the requirements of state laws in regard to marriage. A marriage license is issued by the clerk of the court or the county clerk. You will be required to pay a fee for this. The man and woman must be of age. This is mainly 18 years. If they are slightly below that, the parents can consent for them to get married. Many marriage laws in the United States have this provision. The couple must provide proof of vaccination from certain diseases. This has been a highly debatable issue and, some states have removed requirement of blood tests but, many will require a test for venereal diseases while other states will require tests for Rubella, commonly known as German measles. All laws will require you to have proof of termination of previous marital relationships. This can be through death, annulment or divorce.

The laws state that the couple must be in stable or healthy mental state. This is for the purpose of entering into a contract. Many people have entered into marriages without their consent. Another thing that is vital is that the couple must not be close blood relatives. There are a lot of implications when this happens. For example, very close relatives will put their progeny at risk, not to mention other social implications. In almost 20 states, couples will have to wait for a few days for the license after applying it. This is deemed essential as the couples make their plans for the marriage. In the state of Connecticut, couples will wait for 4 days. In Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, they will wait for around 5 days. In the state of Maryland and New York, you will wait for only 2 days. The best place to be is Illinois, South Carolina and Delaware where you just wait for one day.

The laws state that for a marriage to occur, there must be witnesses as well as a person recognized by the state, to oversee the marriage union. If the marriage is a religious one, all the customs must be followed for it to be recognized by the state. The marriages are joined by registered officials like ministers, priests, rabbi or a judge. Consummation of a marriage in many states is vital although not a requirement. If the marriage was never consummated, it is deemed as incomplete and an annulment will be possible in many states. For marriage to be recognized as legal, the laws state that it must be performed in a relevant legal jurisdiction. It is vital to keep in mind that marriage licenses keep on changing and that, this is just a guide. To get the actual information, you must look for the updated version and, you will get all the help you require.