Difference between revisions of "Married Spouses and the Law on Marriage"

For a quick summary on getting married ion British Columbia, see [[How Do I Get Married in British Columbia?]] It's located in the section ''Marriage, Separation & Divorce'' in the ''How Do I?'' part of this resource.  

Interestingly, the act might be read in such a way that the marriages of girls as young as 12 and boys as young as 14, the old common-law ages of puberty, might still be considered to be valid. Since marriages between people this young are prohibited in Canada without a court order, this rule will only apply to preserve the marriages of young couples wed outside of Canada.

#one or both spouses were seven years old or younger (the absolute minimum age required to consent to marry under the old common law),

#the spouses were within the prohibited degree of relatedness,

#one or both of the spouses did not have the mental capacity to marry, or

#one or both of the spouses were already married at the time of the marriage.

It is important to know that even if a marriage is declared void, the parties may still have certain legal rights and obligations towards each other if they qualify as "spouses" under the provincial ''[[Family Law Act]]''.

#the spouses were over seven years of age, but a female spouse was under the age of 12 or a male spouse was under the age of 14 (the old common-law ages of puberty),

#one or both of the spouses did not consent to the marriage or were under duress or some other kind of coercion when they married,

#a male spouse is impotent or a female spouse is sterile going into the marriage,

#the marriage cannot be consummated,

#the marriage was a sham, or

#one or both of the spouses agreed to marry as a result of fraud or misrepresentation.

As with any contract, which is how marriage was historically described, if either party has not properly given his or her consent or was under some sort of duress or coercion in agreeing to the marriage, the marriage may be voidable. Essentially, the argument here is that you didn't go into the marriage of your own free will; you were forced into it.

#there had been no consummation of the marriage,

#the refusal to consummate the marriage was persistent and not due to capricious obstinacy,

#the applicant has an invincible aversion to sex with the other spouse,

#the aversion was the result of some sort of incapacity, and

#the incapacity may be based on normal, predictable reactions.

There is a common-law presumption that a marriage should not be declared invalid merely because the marriage didn't meet the required formalities, and the court will try to uphold invalid marriages when it can. Section 16 of the provincial ''Marriage Act'' provides, for example, that irregularities in a marriage license won't invalidate a marriage entered into in good faith; is. 11 similarly provides that a marriage conducted by an unauthorized person won't be declared invalid if the marriage is unchallenged.