Family Law Flashcards
Ceremonial Marriage Requirements
Licensing (state)
Solemnization (church)
Licensing
(Marriage requirements)
- Age restriction (depends on state)
- Waiting period (license issuance to wedding)
- Premarital testing (some states, CANNOT be a condition)
License NOT Issued
(Marriage Requirements)
- Party is already married
- Parties are too closely related
- Marriage is a sham
- Parties incapable of understanding act of marriage (intoxication, duress, fraud, etc.)
Solemnization
(Marriage Requirements)
- At least 2 witnesses (depends on state)
- Officiant (clergy, judge, etc.)
- Register license w/ appropriate office
- Some states allow proxy to stand in for one party if unavailable.
Common-Law Marriage
Marriage without solemnization or license; most states don’t recognize anymore.
Requirements:
1. Capacity to marry
2. Consent (parties agree they’re married)
3. Cohabitation
4. Conduct (parties hold themselves out)
Evidence to evaluate common-law marriage includes children, joint debt, joint assets, title to property, bank accounts, insurance forms, tax forms, etc.)
Ending a Marriage -
Three Methods
- Annulment
- Divorce
- Mediation
Annulment
(Ending a Marriage)
Judicial decree that voids a marriage (it never existed).
An impediment existed at the time of the marriage.
Voidable for the following reasons:
- Age: one party was under age of consent at time of marriage.
- Impotence: one party is naturally and incurably impotent (UNLESS other party knew about this)
- Intoxication: drunk at the wedding.
- Fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, or force: as elsewhere.
- Lack of Intent: parties never intended to be married.
Effects of Annulment
As follows:
- Either party can seek financial support.
- Can seek equitable distribution of martial property.
- Can seek child support if applicable.
- Courts put the parties in the same position as before the marriage.
- Children born out of annulled marriage are considered common children.
Defenses to Annulment
- Deny impediment.
- Other party can still pursue dissolution/divorce action.
Divorce - Requirements
Divorce = Legal dissolution of marriage.
Most states have residency requirement:
1. One party must be resident of state
2. Length of time varies and can depend on (a) whether couple is domiciled in state; or (b) grounds for divorce happened in that state.
No-Fault Divorce
Majority of states recognize.
Standard = Irreconcilable differences OR irretrievably broken.
1/2 of states require separated living for some period of time before divorce filed.
One spouse wishing to reconcile cannot stop divorce.
Most states abolished traditional defenses to divorce.
Fault Divorce & Grounds
Few states recognize, largely for determining support.
Grounds for Fault Divorce:
1. Adultery
2. Crulety
3. Desertion
4. Drunkenness
5. Bigamy
6. Imprisonment
7. Indignity
8. Institutionalization
