HF 3773

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to marriages; authorizing marriages between 
  1.3             persons of the same gender; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 1996, section 517.02; Minnesota Statutes 1997 
  1.5             Supplement, sections 517.01; 517.03, subdivision 1; 
  1.6             and 517.20. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.9   517.01, is amended to read: 
  1.10     517.01 [MARRIAGE A CIVIL CONTRACT.] 
  1.11     Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a 
  1.12  civil contract between a man and a woman two persons, to which 
  1.13  the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is 
  1.14  essential.  Lawful marriage may be contracted only between 
  1.15  persons of the opposite sex and only when a license has been 
  1.16  obtained as provided by law and when the marriage is contracted 
  1.17  in the presence of two witnesses and solemnized by one 
  1.18  authorized, or whom one or both of the parties in good faith 
  1.19  believe to be authorized, so to do.  Marriages subsequent to 
  1.20  April 26, 1941, not so contracted shall be null and void. 
  1.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 517.02, is 
  1.22  amended to read: 
  1.23     517.02 [PERSONS CAPABLE OF CONTRACTING.] 
  1.24     Every person who has attained the full age of 18 years is 
  1.25  capable in law of contracting marriage, if otherwise competent.  
  1.26  Marriage may be contracted between two such persons of the same 
  2.1   gender or of different genders.  A person of the full age of 16 
  2.2   years may, with the consent of the person's parents, guardian, 
  2.3   or the court, as provided in section 517.08, receive a license 
  2.4   to marry, when, after a careful inquiry into the facts and the 
  2.5   surrounding circumstances, the person's application for a 
  2.6   license is approved by the judge of the juvenile court of the 
  2.7   county in which the person resides.  If the judge of juvenile 
  2.8   court of the county in which the person resides is absent from 
  2.9   the county and has not by order assigned another judge or a 
  2.10  retired judge to act in the judge's stead, then the court 
  2.11  commissioner or any judge of district court of the county may 
  2.12  approve the application for a license. 
  2.13     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  2.14  517.03, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.15     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] (a) The following marriages are 
  2.16  prohibited: 
  2.17     (1) a marriage entered into before the dissolution of an 
  2.18  earlier marriage of one of the parties becomes final, as 
  2.19  provided in section 518.145 or by the law of the jurisdiction 
  2.20  where the dissolution was granted; 
  2.21     (2) a marriage between an ancestor and a descendant, or 
  2.22  between a brother and a sister siblings, whether the 
  2.23  relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by 
  2.24  adoption; and 
  2.25     (3) a marriage between an uncle or an aunt and a niece, 
  2.26  between an aunt and or a nephew, or between first cousins, 
  2.27  whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood, 
  2.28  except as to marriages permitted by the established customs of 
  2.29  aboriginal cultures; and. 
  2.30     (4) a marriage between persons of the same sex. 
  2.31     (b) A marriage entered into by persons of the same sex, 
  2.32  either under common law or statute, that is recognized by 
  2.33  another state or foreign jurisdiction is void in this state and 
  2.34  contractual rights granted by virtue of the marriage or its 
  2.35  termination are unenforceable in this state.  
  2.36     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  3.1   517.20, is amended to read: 
  3.2      517.20 [APPLICATION.] 
  3.3      Except as provided in section 517.03, subdivision 1, 
  3.4   paragraph (b), All marriages contracted within this state prior 
  3.5   to March 1, 1979, or outside this state that were valid at the 
  3.6   time of the contract or subsequently validated by the laws of 
  3.7   the place in which they were contracted or by the domicile of 
  3.8   the parties are valid in this state.