Lydia is 16 years old and wants to marry her 22-year-old boyfriend (Charles), who is the son of her father’s second wife (i.e. her step-brother). Her father consents to the marriage. Her biological mother is deceased. Her step-mother has not taken formal steps to adopt her. What steps must Lydia take to get married?

A valid marriage can take place because Lydia’s father consented to the marriage.
A valid marriage cannot take place unless Lydia’s step-mother also consents.
No valid marriage can be held between the two because they are brother and sister.
A valid marriage can take place if Lydia petitions the court for permission to get married.

Timothy is 17 years old and wants to marry his high school sweetheart, Antoinette, who is 16 years old. Both their parents vigorously oppose the marriage. If Timothy seeks court approval for the marriage, what would be the likely outcome?

The court will consent, but ask Timothy and Antoinette to attend marriage counseling first.
The court will consent, but ask them to wait until they are 18 to marry.
The court will not consent unless they get parental consent.
The court may consent after balancing the best interests of Timothy and Antoinette.

Mark and Ted have been a couple for six years and have decided they want to get married. They apply for a marriage license from the city clerk. They will be able to get married.

True
False

George leaves his adult daycare one afternoon to marry Genie, also a member in his daycare. Genie argues with George that they must have their guardians’ consent to the marriage. George keeps insisting that their guardians do not have to consent to their marriage. Who is correct?

Genie because a mentally incompetent person lacks the capacity to marry; a guardian must consent to the marriage.
Neither because once an incompetent has a guardian, consent from the guardian is needed to marry.
In lieu of getting their guardians’ consent, they can petition the court for approval.
George because he and Genie have the capacity to understand the nature of marriage, and may give valid consent to marry.

Simon, a citizen of England and Paula, a citizen of the United States, marry. Their sole purpose is to allow Simon to immigrate to the United States. Simon and Paula have no intention of living together as husband and wife, and they have no marital relationship either before or after the ceremony. They have a valid marriage.

True
False

Dennis and Carmen are in Las Vegas for the weekend. They have been gambling and drinking for several hours on Friday night; by midnight they are extremely drunk, so they decide to get married. They find the appropriate agent for a marriage license. While filing out the application, they forget their last names and other information required to be filled out. The clerk suspects they are not in the right state of mind to get married. What should the clerk do?

Deny the marriage license because they are drunk and unable to give consent.
Grant the marriage license because they have a fundamental right to get married.
Deny the marriage license because they are unable to complete it properly.
Grant the marriage license but tell them to wait until they are sober to get married.

Maggie and Oscar, residents of State A, were both 17 years old when they ran away to State B to get married because State B allows persons who are at least 17 years old to marry without parental consent. They returned to State A where they lived for five years. When did their marriage become valid?

When they married in State B at age 17.
When they turned 18, while living in State A.
Their marriage is not valid; it was void when contracted.
After living together as husband and wife once they reached age 18.

Twenty-five years ago, Tom and Jane were married in the Roman Catholic Church. Due to an oversight, Jane failed to get a marriage license beforehand. Jane dies and Tom petitions the court to become the executor of her estate. What will the court decide?

Deny Tom’s request because they did not obtain a marriage license.
Grant Tom’s request because it is against public policy to only hold those marriages as valid that have a license.
Grant Tom’s request because they had lived together as husband and wife for 25 years.
Deny Tom’s request because he should have corrected the oversight during Jane’s lifetime.

Pamela and Andrew were to be wed in England. On their wedding day Pamela was sick and could not make the wedding. Instead, Pamela gave her proxy to her father (assume proxy marriages are valid in England). The wedding is celebrated, and the couple holds themselves out as married. Andrew is offered a job in New York, and moves his family to New York. Their marriage would be invalid in New York.

True
False

Vera and Brad think they are married and have held themselves out as married for the past two years while living in Florida. Recently, Vera accepted a job in California. In addition, they found out that the priest who had solemnized their marriage was a sham. Under what theory will their marriage be considered valid in California?

Doctrine of worthier title.
Vicarious marriage doctrine.
Putative spouse doctrine.
None of the above, their marriage is invalid.