Also known as: marriages · marry · marries · married · marrying · marital · matrimony · wedlock
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal status created when two persons formally unite under state law, establishing mutual rights and obligations between them and toward third parties. The status requires capacity and voluntary consent at the time of the ceremony.
Mason McCarthy's estate is probated after his death. His sister testifies that Mason told her years earlier he had married Ming Ma in a private ceremony. The court admits the statement under the hearsay exception even though the sister lacked personal knowledge of the event. The admission establishes the validity of the marriage for inheritance purposes.
Miguel Mendoza appears before Judge Monica Morgan in a custody dispute. The judge repeatedly comments that a divorced father like Mendoza cannot provide a stable home and favors the married mother. The comments violate the prohibition on manifesting bias based on marital status during judicial duties.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Maurice Marshall seeks representation in a contract dispute. Attorney Marcus Mitchell declines the case upon learning Marshall is recently divorced, stating that divorced clients create too many complications. The refusal constitutes prohibited discrimination on the basis of marital status in the practice of law.
Midwest Airlines executive Maxwell Manufacturing persuades his employee Monica Morgan to break her engagement to Mason McCarthy so she can relocate for a promotion. McCarthy sues for interference with contract. The claim fails because the rule excludes contracts to marry from the tort of intentional interference.
Federal prosecutors subpoena Miguel Mendoza to testify about a confidential conversation he had with his wife Ming Ma during their marriage regarding business dealings. Mendoza asserts the marital communications privilege. The court upholds the privilege and bars the testimony because the communication was made in confidence during the marriage.
Marcus Mitchell and Monica Morgan sign a premarital agreement waiving spousal support rights without independent counsel or a plain-language explanation of the waived rights. After divorce Marcus challenges enforcement. The agreement is unenforceable because the statutory notice and representation requirements were not met.
The parties must have mental capacity to understand the act and enter it voluntarily without fraud or duress. Capacity is assessed at the time of the ceremony. Lack of either element renders the marriage subject to attack.
The communications privilege protects confidential statements made during marriage and survives divorce. The testimonial privilege prevents one spouse from being compelled to testify against the other and applies only during a valid marriage. The communications privilege belongs to both spouses while the testimonial privilege rules vary by jurisdiction.
The agreement is unenforceable if a party lacked independent legal representation and the document failed to include plain-language notice of the rights being waived. Additional grounds include involuntary consent or inadequate financial disclosure. Courts examine these factors at the time of signing.
The right to marry is fundamental under the Due Process Clause. State laws that significantly interfere with the right must be supported by sufficiently important interests and narrowly tailored. Classifications based on race or that exclude same-sex couples have been invalidated under equal protection principles.
…and carried on within its territory. The State, for example, has absolute right to prescribe the conditions upon which the marriage relation between its own citizens shall be created, and the causes for which it may be dissolved. One of the parties guilty of acts for which, by the law of the State, a dissolution may be…