![]() ![]() ![]() “If the marriage is performed by someone unauthorized, but the two people having the marriage still believe it to be valid, it may continue to be valid until someone challenges it,” he said. ![]() Nonetheless, he encouraged couples not to panic unless the issue is forced through divorce or death, the judicial system tends to grant couples the benefit of the doubt. The penalty in Connecticut for an unauthorized performance of a marriage is a fine of up to $500 and a year in jail for the officiant, though Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, said prosecution is unlikely.Īs for the marriage, the statute is clear, Mr. Such a minister “doesn’t meet the requirements of the state statutes,” said William Gerrish, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Having heard of other couples who were married that way, they assumed it was legal.īut Connecticut is one of a half-dozen places that do not recognize marriages performed by someone who became a minister for the sole purpose of marrying people. Their outdoor ceremony two summers ago in Farmington, Conn., was performed by a friend who had been ordained online by the Universal Life Church. IN an era of six-figure weddings when couples obsess about the band playlist and hand towels for the restrooms, one question may get short shrift: Is the person performing the wedding legally able to do so?ĭaniel Morales and Gwendolyn Baxter thought they knew. ![]()
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