In order to get married below the state’s legal minimum age requirement for marriage, a party must show more than love and mere physical ability. The legislature has established a minimum age for marriage through legislation as a matter of public policy because it sought to prevent young people from becoming married before considering with calm deliberation whether the step is both desirable and safe. [...]

Laws prohibiting polygamy do not violate the guarantees of the free exercise of religion and privacy in the U.S. Constitution. The court held that even if Utah’s Enabling Act violates the equal footing doctrine plaintiff would not be entitled to relief. [...]

Mere weakness of mind is not sufficient to void a marriage based on competency to marry. While a marriage is a civil contract and differs dramatically from other contracts, the standard for determining capacity to consent to marriage is the same as the standard under contract law. [...]

Whether or not Victoria Hewitt’s cause of action should be permitted is a question involving complex public policy considerations with compelling arguments on both sides. It is for the legislature to bring these changes about and not the courts. [...]

Historically, the validity of a marriage depended upon the consent of the parties publicly announced or symbolized by the exchange of rings or love tokens. Marriage rituals were spoken and celebrated by the parties themselves. [...]

Under a state constitution that guarantees that all citizens will be treated equally, the state must afford some equivalent of marriage and its status to same sex couples. Our marriage statutes reflect the commonly accepted position that marriage is an institution for opposite sex couples. [...]

The law raises a presumption of the validity of a subsequent marriage. This presumption is one of the strongest in the law. When an attempt is made to annul a marriage on the ground of a prior subsisting marriage of the other party, the presumption of validity of the subsequent marriage is stronger than and overcomes the presumption of continuance of the previous marriage. [...]

The length of time a couple spends in a state recognizing common law marriage is not used to determine whether a common law marriage exists. The proof of common law marriage requires uttering words in the present tense with the intent to establish such a relationship and holding oneself out in a general and broad way to all as being married. [...]

A common law marriage is to be formed between parties by express words of agreement with the burden of proof on the party to show by clear and convincing evidence that such was the case. Courts look upon common law marriages with great disfavor because of the ability to create mischief between the parties. There must therefore be clear and convincing evidence of its existence and the courts will review such a claim with great scrutiny. [...]

In Virginia, whether a marriage is valid is to be controlled by the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated. The court held that under these facts, the ceremony performed in Pakistan was not a marriage ceremony and therefore this was not a legal marriage. [...]