FOREIGN MARRIAGES AND THE CONFLICT OF LAWS

Authors

Herbert F. Goodrich, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

It is common these days to speak of marriage as a contract. Not only do we use the term "marriage contract" as meaning a promise to marry in the future, but also to describe the contract or expression of consent by which the parties take each other for husband and wife. The statutes of many of our states declare marriage to be a "civil contract." A moment's thought will show great differences between marriage and the ordinary civil contract. A marriage contract can be contracted only between a man and a woman; it has no validity if one of the parties has already entered into a similar contract with someone else. A minor may, under certain restrictions, enter into and be bound by it. It is, in many states, hedged about with formal requirements. If one of the parties breaks his promise to "love and honor,'' no damages are recoverable for the breach. Nor can the parties to this transaction withdraw when they please. The only way they can get out, once having entered into a valid marriage, is through legal proceedings, or death of one spouse. And there are numerous rights and duties arising out of marriage (such as support by the husband, services by the wife) of which no mention is made in the contract.

Recommended Citation

Herbert F. Goodrich, FOREIGN MARRIAGES AND THE CONFLICT OF LAWS, 21 Mich. L. Rev. 743 (1923).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol21/iss7/3