XOXO

Thank you SOOOOO much for posting this! I wonder if I called myself if I'll get the same story and if I can even get the law in writing.. like faxed to me or something. I'm SO paranoid about this but knowing you spoke with someone is a BIG relief!

I emailed the town clerk in Huntington who said the same thing:
this office, nor the Department of Health in Albany, can give you written confirmation on whether or not that officiant has valid credentials. As the New York State Domestic Relations law is written, if the couple is assured of the validity of the officiant’s credentials then that should be sufficient. It is the responsibility of the couple to engage a marriage officiant pursuant to the guidelines in New York State Domestic Relations Law.

If you are getting married in New York City there are other requirements that they require of the officiant. If that is the case then you would have to check with that municipality.

If you would like more complete information you can visit the following website for Getting Married in New York State at http://www.health.ny.gov/publications/4210/ .

And remember to get your license at least 24 hours in advance !!!

Quick, probably unnecessary, warning. While it is pretty unlikely that the validity of a marriage would be challenged, there are possible situations where it could occur.

Divorce - If your spouse's attorney gets creative, decides to argue the marriage was never valid, points to the controlling authority - the suffolk court case mentioned in the NY Times article. It's happened before, and I'm sure crazier things have happened in a divorce proceeding. If the marriage never happened, then you lose all the protections under the law for assets during a divorce.

Death - Your spouse dies. His parents/kids/siblings don't want you to have the money. They challenge the validity of the marriage. If the marriage isn't valid, then you may be entitled to nothing or less.

I'm sure there are other situations that I haven't thought of, but in the legal world the status of married can be VERY important.

Also keep in mind, that there is no common law marriage in NY, so living together for X amount of years as husband and wife doesn't offer you any protection if the 'official' marriage isn't valid.

I'm sure if a case actually came up to the Appellate Division challenging it, it would probably be overturned, but it takes someone spending the money on attorney's fees and court fees in order to get to that point.

Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Even if it just means having a friend do it, and then having a justice of the peace ensure it's done 'officially.'

Also, keep in mind the county clerk is not an authority on the law. I'm pretty sure (thought someone can correct me if I'm wrong) their main job is record keeping and paperwork. They know you'll get your paperwork, but not what will happen in the court of law.

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Posted by Marty

Quick, probably unnecessary, warning. While it is pretty unlikely that the validity of a marriage would be challenged, there are possible situations where it could occur.

Divorce - If your spouse's attorney gets creative, decides to argue the marriage was never valid, points to the controlling authority - the suffolk court case mentioned in the NY Times article. It's happened before, and I'm sure crazier things have happened in a divorce proceeding. If the marriage never happened, then you lose all the protections under the law for assets during a divorce.

Death - Your spouse dies. His parents/kids/siblings don't want you to have the money. They challenge the validity of the marriage. If the marriage isn't valid, then you may be entitled to nothing or less.

I'm sure there are other situations that I haven't thought of, but in the legal world the status of married can be VERY important.

Also keep in mind, that there is no common law marriage in NY, so living together for X amount of years as husband and wife doesn't offer you any protection if the 'official' marriage isn't valid.

I'm sure if a case actually came up to the Appellate Division challenging it, it would probably be overturned, but it takes someone spending the money on attorney's fees and court fees in order to get to that point.

Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Even if it just means having a friend do it, and then having a justice of the peace ensure it's done 'officially.'

Also, keep in mind the county clerk is not an authority on the law. I'm pretty sure (thought someone can correct me if I'm wrong) their main job is record keeping and paperwork. They know you'll get your paperwork, but not what will happen in the court of law.

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I agree with this completely. While you will get your marriage license without issue and therefore change your name, insurance etc. you never know what can happen down the road and its a big question mark if anything would hold up if someone contested it in court.

DH and I wanted his brother to get ordained by ULC and marry us. He is a lawyer and researched everything before agreeing to do it and his conclusion was he would only do our ceremony if we went to a justice of the peace first to make it iron-clad official. He had our best interest in mind so down the road we would never run into any uncertainty or issues. We wanted our actual correct wedding date on our marriage license so going to a justice of the peace in advance was out of the question for us so we hired our town judge to officiate instead of his brother. My advice would be if you want a family member or friend to officiate a ceremony that is fine but cover all your bases by making it official at a justice of the peace first. Everyone thinks these things will never happen to them but a divorce can be ugly and it's better to be safe than sorry.