Marriage law
A marriage, by definition, bestows rights and obligations on the married parties, and sometimes on relatives as well, being the sole mechanism for the creation of affinal ties (in-laws).
Although it is claimed that common-law marriage in the US originated in English common-law, this institution in the United States appears to have originated in the primitive conditions of colonial America where the presence of relatively few clerics or civil officials necessitated a substitute for ceremonial marriage, and the need expanded as the settlers moved into the sparsely populated regions of the West.
From age to gender, to social status, various restrictions are placed on marriage by communities, religious institutions, legal traditions, and states.
The issues of age is in most cases determined by respective religious bodies coordinating the marriage as well as the parent's consent.
In Sierra Leone, the president has banned marriages for children ages 18 and under and imposed steep fines on adult spouses.
In response to changing social and political attitudes, some jurisdictions and religious denomination now recognize marriages between people of the same sex.
Other jurisdictions have instead "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships", while additional others explicitly prohibit same-sex marriages.
[47][48] As of January 2025, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 39 countries- the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, Brazil, France, Uruguay, New Zealand, Luxembourg, the United States, Ireland, Colombia, Finland, Malta, Germany, Australia, Austria, Taiwan, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Chile, Switzerland, Slovenia, Cuba, Mexico, Andorra, Estonia, Greece, Liechtenstein, and Thailand.
As of 16 February 2025, countries that have an alternative form of legal recognition other than marriage on a national level are: Bolivia, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, and San Marino.
Kinship is two people that are related by blood or adoption, such as brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle etc.
[58] Societies have often placed restrictions on marriage to relatives, though the degree of prohibited relationship varies widely.
In most societies, marriage between brothers and sisters has been forbidden, with ancient Egyptian, Hawaiian, and Inca royalty being prominent exceptions.
In South Korea, marriage between people having the same surname and belonging to the same clan was prohibited by the Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code, until the act was determined "non-conforming to the Constitution" in 1997.
Racist laws adopted by some societies in the past—such as Nazi-era Germany, apartheid-era South Africa, and most of the United States in the nineteenth and the first half of the 20th century—and which prohibited marriage between persons of different races could also be considered examples of endogamy.
[63] In 2023, the Israel Supreme Court ruled couples married by officials virtually, must be recognized by the government.
For example, People's Republic of China shifted from allowing polygamy to supporting only monogamy in the New Marriage Law of 1950 after the Communist Revolution.
[72] Beginning in the early 20th century, a number of jurisdictions have mandated premarital medical testing or examinations for one or both parties.
Between the 1930s and 1950s, most US states passed laws requiring both parties to a marriage to undergo a Wassermann test (or equivalent) for syphilis.
If one of the parties was found to have communicable syphilis, they would generally be prevented from marrying until they underwent treatment to resolve the infection.
Before the availability of penicillin after World War II, the treatment of syphilis entailed a course of arsenic-based drugs for up to a year or more.
[73] In the 1980s and 1990s, many US state legislatures considered laws requiring premarital HIV testing, though only a small number were adopted, and were only briefly active before being repealed.
[74] As of 2010, premarital HIV testing is legally mandated in Bahrain, certain provinces of China, Libya, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.
However, the term "common-law marriage" has wider informal use, and is commonly used to refer to cohabiting couples, regardless of any rights they may have.
The institution of common-law marriage, in its original legal meaning, has been abolished in almost all jurisdictions that used to have it, and only survives in a few US states.
In several jurisdictions, such as parts of Canada, while the law recognizes unmarried couples for various purposes, such relations are not common-law marriages within the original meaning of this legal concept.
New Jersey introduced bills allowing remote application for marriage licenses and virtual ceremonies using video-conferencing technology.
[88] While some countries, such as Australia, permit marriages to be held in private and at any location, others, including England, require that the civil ceremony be conducted in a place specially sanctioned by law (e.g. a church or register office), and be open to the public.
[89][90] Countries that have relatively recently legalized divorce are Italy (1970), Portugal (1975), Brazil (1977), Spain (1981), Argentina (1987),[91] Paraguay (1991),[92] Colombia (1991)[a][92] Ireland (1996), Chile (2004)[93] and Malta (2011).
- In India, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore polygamy is only legal for Muslims .
- In Nigeria and South Africa, polygamous marriages under customary law and for Muslims are legally recognized.
- In Mauritius, polygamous unions have no legal recognition. Muslim men may, however, "marry" up to four women, but they do not have the legal status of wives.
