Difference between revisions of "Family Relationships"

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It is not true that an unmarried couple is automatically "married" once they've lived together for a certain amount of time. A unmarried couple is never legally married unless they have actually had a marriage ceremony. There is no such thing as a "common-law marriage."
It is not true that an unmarried couple is automatically "married" once they've lived together for a certain amount of time. A unmarried couple is never legally married unless they have actually had a marriage ceremony. There is no such thing as a "common-law marriage."


You are not legally married unless you have a marriage ceremony and the ceremony is conducted by someone authorized by the provincial government to perform marriages. Your car mechanic can marry you, if your car mechanic is a marriage commissioner, but your Wiccan high priestess cannot legally marry you unless she also happens to be a licensed marriage commissioner.
You are not legally married unless you have a marriage ceremony and the ceremony is conducted by someone authorized by the provincial government to perform marriages. Your car mechanic can perform your marriage, if your car mechanic is a marriage commissioner, but your Wiccan high priestess cannot legally marry you unless she also happens to be a licensed marriage commissioner.


Las Vegas marriages and other sorts of quickie marriages are valid and binding marriages, as long as the marriages meet the criteria for valid marriages, discussed in the next section. If you want to undo the marriage, you'll have to get divorced just like every other person in a valid marriage, and that will usually mean waiting until one year has passed since your separation. An alcohol-induced Las Vegas marriage was upheld in the very funny 2005 Supreme Court case of ''[http://canlii.ca/t/1q47l Davison v. Sweeney]'', 2005 BCSC 757, simply because the spouses knew what they were doing when they married, despite the fact that they had never had sex and separated two days after the marriage, when their respective holidays ended.
Las Vegas marriages and other sorts of quickie marriages are valid and binding marriages, as long as the marriages meet the criteria for valid marriages, discussed in the next section. If you want to undo the marriage, you'll have to get divorced just like every other person in a valid marriage, and that will usually mean waiting until one year has passed since your separation. An alcohol-induced Las Vegas marriage was upheld in the very funny 2005 Supreme Court case of ''[http://canlii.ca/t/1q47l Davison v. Sweeney]'', 2005 BCSC 757, simply because the spouses knew what they were doing when they married, despite the fact that they had never had sex and separated two days after the marriage, when their respective holidays ended.

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