Minnesota Legislature
HF 1687
as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 04/24/2013 08:27am
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A bill for an act
relating to civil law; providing for civil union relationships; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2012, sections 517.01; 517.02; 517.03; 517.07; 517.08, subdivision 1a;
517.10; 517.101; 517.20; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 517.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.01, is amended to read:
517.01 MARRIAGE deleted text begin Adeleted text end new text begin ;new text end CIVIL deleted text begin CONTRACTdeleted text end new text begin UNION CONTRACTSnew text end .
new text begin (a) new text end Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between a
man and a woman, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is
essential. Lawful marriage may be contracted only between persons of the opposite sex
and only when a license has been obtained as provided by law and when the marriage is
contracted in the presence of two witnesses and solemnized by one authorized, or whom
one or both of the parties in good faith believe to be authorized, so to do. Marriages
subsequent to April 26, 1941, not so contracted shall be null and void.
new text begin
(b) A civil union, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between
two parties, recognized by the state of Minnesota, to which the consent of the parties,
capable in law of contracting, is essential. A civil union contract is only valid when a
license has been obtained as provided by law and when the civil union is contracted in
the presence of two witnesses. Every person who has attained the full age of 18 years is
capable in law of contracting a civil union, if otherwise competent.
new text end
Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.02, is amended to read:
517.02 PERSONS CAPABLE OF CONTRACTING.
Every person who has attained the full age of 18 years is capable in law of
contracting marriagenew text begin or a civil unionnew text end , if otherwise competent. A person of the full age of
16 years may, with the consent of the person's legal custodial parents, guardian, or the
court, as provided in section 517.08, receive a license to marry, when, after a careful
inquiry into the facts and the surrounding circumstances, the person's application for a
license and consent for marriage of a minor form is approved by the judge of the district
court of the county in which the person resides. If the judge of the district court of the
county in which the person resides is absent from the county and has not by order assigned
another judge or a retired judge to act in the judge's stead, then the court commissioner or
any judge of district court of the county may approve the application for a license.
The consent for marriage of a minor must be in the following form:
STATE OF MINNESOTA, COUNTY OF .................... (insert county name)
I/We ........................... (insert legal custodial parent or guardian names) under oath
or affirmation say:
That I/we are the legal custodial parent(s) or guardian of ...........................
(insert name of minor), who was born at ........................... (insert place of birth) on
........................... (insert date of birth) who is presently the age of ....... (insert age).
That the minor has not been previously married.
That I/we consent to the marriage of this minor to ........................... (insert name of
the person minor intends to marry) who is of the age of ....... (insert age).
That affidavit is being made for the purpose of requesting the judge's consent to
allow this minor to marry and make this marriage legal.
Date: .............................
.....................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................
(Signature of legal custodial parents or guardian)
Sworn to or affirmed and acknowledged before me on this ....... day of .................... .
..........................................
NOTARY PUBLIC
STATE OF MINNESOTA, COUNTY OF .................... (insert county name).
The undersigned is the judge of the district court where the minor resides and grants
the request for the minor to marry.
................................ (judge of district court)
................................ (date).
Sec. 3.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.03, is amended to read:
517.03 PROHIBITED MARRIAGESnew text begin AND CIVIL UNION CONTRACTSnew text end .
Subdivision 1.
General.
deleted text begin (a)deleted text end The following marriagesnew text begin and civil union contracts
new text end are prohibited:
(1) a marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end entered into before the dissolution of an earlier
marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end of one of the parties becomes final, as provided in section
518.145 or by the law of the jurisdiction where the dissolution was granted;
(2) a marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end between an ancestor and a descendant, or
between a brother and a sister, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood
or by adoption;
(3) a marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end between an uncle and a niece, between an aunt
and a nephew, or between first cousins, whether the relationship is by the half or the
whole blood, except as to marriages permitted by the established customs of aboriginal
cultures; and
(4) a marriage between persons of the same sex.
deleted text begin
(b) A marriage entered into by persons of the same sex, either under common law or
statute, that is recognized by another state or foreign jurisdiction is void in this state and
contractual rights granted by virtue of the marriage or its termination are unenforceable in
this state.
deleted text end
Subd. 2.
Developmentally disabled persons; consent by commissioner of
human services.
Developmentally disabled persons committed to the guardianship of
the commissioner of human services and developmentally disabled persons committed
to the conservatorship of the commissioner of human services in which the terms of the
conservatorship limit the right to marrynew text begin or enter a civil union contractnew text end , may marry new text begin or enter
a civil union contract new text end on receipt of written consent of the commissioner. The commissioner
shall grant consent unless it appears from the commissioner's investigation that the
marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end is not in the best interest of the ward or conservatee and
the public. The local registrar in the county where the application for a license is made by
the ward or conservatee shall not issue the license unless the local registrar has received a
signed copy of the consent of the commissioner of human services.
Sec. 4.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.07, is amended to read:
517.07 LICENSE.
Before any persons are joined in marriage new text begin or a civil union contract new text end in Minnesota, a
license shall be obtained from the local registrar of any county within Minnesota. The
marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end need not deleted text begin take placedeleted text end new text begin be formally entered new text end in the county where
the license is obtained but must take place within the geographical borders of Minnesota.
Sec. 5.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.08, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
Subd. 1a.
Form.
Application for a marriage new text begin or civil union contract new text end license shall
be made by both of the parties upon a form provided for the purpose and shall contain
the following information:
(1) the full names of the parties and the sex of each party;
(2) their post office addresses and county and state of residence;
(3) their full ages;
(4) if either party has previously been married, the party's married name, and the
date, place and court in which the marriage was dissolved or annulled or the date and
place of death of the former spouse;
new text begin
(5) if either party has previously been a party to a civil union contract, the date of the
civil union contract, and the place and court in which the civil union contract was dissolved;
new text end
deleted text begin (5)deleted text end new text begin (6)new text end if either party is a minor, the name and address of the minor's parents or
guardian;
deleted text begin (6)deleted text end new text begin (7)new text end whether the parties are related to each other, and, if so, their relationship;
deleted text begin (7)deleted text end new text begin (8)new text end address of the deleted text begin bride and groomdeleted text end new text begin partiesnew text end after the marriage new text begin or civil union
contract is entered new text end to which the local registrar shall send a certified copy of the marriage
certificatenew text begin or civil union contractnew text end ;
deleted text begin (8)deleted text end new text begin (9)new text end the full names the parties will have after marriage new text begin or the civil union contract
is entered new text end and the parties' Social Security numbers. The Social Security numbers must be
collected for the application but must not appear on the marriage licensenew text begin or civil union
contractnew text end . If a party listed on a marriage application does not have a Social Security
number, the party must certify on the application, or a supplement to the application, that
the party does not have a Social Security number;
deleted text begin (9)deleted text end new text begin (10)new text end if one or both of the new text begin individual new text end parties deleted text begin to the marriage licensedeleted text end has a felony
conviction under Minnesota law or the law of another state or federal jurisdiction, the
parties shall provide to the county proof of service upon the prosecuting authority and, if
applicable, the attorney general, as required by section 259.13; and
deleted text begin (10)deleted text end new text begin (11)new text end notice that a party who has a felony conviction under Minnesota law or the
law of another state or federal jurisdiction may not use a different name after marriage
new text begin or a civil union is entered new text end except as authorized by section 259.13, and that doing so is a
gross misdemeanor.
Sec. 6.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.10, is amended to read:
517.10 CERTIFICATE; WITNESSES.
The person solemnizing a marriage new text begin or the local registrar of each county new text end shall prepare
and sign a certificatenew text begin of lawful marriage or a civil union contractnew text end . The certificate shall
contain the full names of the parties before and after marriagenew text begin or the civil union contractnew text end , the
birth dates of the parties, and county and state of residences of the parties and the date and
place of the marriagenew text begin or civil union contractnew text end . The certificate shall also contain the signatures
of at least two of the witnesses present at the marriage new text begin or at the time the civil union contract
was signed new text end who shall be at least 16 years of age. The person solemnizing the marriage new text begin or
the registrar new text end shall immediately make a record of such marriagenew text begin or civil union contractnew text end , and
file such certificate with the local registrar of the county in which the license was issued
within five days after the ceremonynew text begin or within five days after the civil union contract was
signednew text end . The local registrar shall record such certificate in the county marriage records.
Sec. 7.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.101, is amended to read:
517.101 CERTIFIED COPIES OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATEnew text begin OR
CONTRACT FOR CIVIL UNIONnew text end .
Within ten days of receipt of the certificate and after recording the certificate the local
registrar shall prepare a certified copy of the certificate to be mailed to the deleted text begin marrieddeleted text end parties.
Sec. 8.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 517.20, is amended to read:
517.20 APPLICATION.
deleted text begin Except as provided in section 517.03, subdivision 1, paragraph (b),deleted text end All marriages
new text begin and civil unionsnew text end contracted within this state deleted text begin prior to March 1, 1979deleted text end or outside this state
that were valid at the time of the contract or subsequently validated by the laws of the
place in which they were contracted or by the domicile of the parties are valid in this state.
Sec. 9.
new text begin
[517.23] MEANING OF CIVIL UNION CONTRACT.
new text end
new text begin
(a) Wherever the term "marriage," "marital," "marry," or "married" is used in
Minnesota Statutes in reference to the rights, obligations, or privileges of a couple under
law, the term shall include a civil union contract, or parties to a civil union contract, as
established by this chapter. A term subject to this definition must also be interpreted in
reference to the context in which it appears, but may not be interpreted to limit or exclude
any parties who have entered a valid civil union contract under this chapter.
new text end
new text begin
(b) To the extent that provisions of the laws of this state, whether derived from
statutes, administrative rules or regulations, court rules, governmental policies, common
law, court decisions, or any other provisions or sources of law, including in equity, adopt,
refer to, or rely upon in any manner provisions of United States federal law that would
have the effect of parties to a civil union being treated differently than married spouses,
parties to a civil union shall be treated in all respects by the laws of this state as if United
States federal law recognizes a civil union in the same manner as the laws of this state.
new text end
Sec. 10. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end
new text begin
Sections 1 to 9 are effective August 1, 2013, and apply to civil union contracts
applied for on or after that date.
new text end