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

An invalid marriage is a marriage that does not comply with the formalities of marriage. These formalities include the authority of the person conducting the marriage to actually perform the marriage, the age of the parties, or errors in the parties' marriage licence.

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 licence won't invalidate a marriage entered into in good faith; s. 11 similarly provides that a marriage conducted by an unauthorized person won't be declared invalid if the marriage is unchallenged.