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Weird Marriage Laws from Around the World

Rajib Singha
You may have stumbled upon strange or dumb laws, but nothing takes the cake as some of these weird marriage laws from around the world. Read this and see for yourself how weird these laws actually are...
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
~ Socrates
You meet your special someone, get to know each other, fall in love, and on one special day, you decide to get hitched! Simple, ain't it? Well, not in some parts of the world! Just recently, we conducted a marathon finding some of the dumbest or weirdest laws that ever existed, or are still in force, in different parts of the world.
After leafing through myriad laws, we chanced upon certain marriage and wedding laws, which proved to be the clear winner; these laws just keep getting weirder and weirder.
The marriage laws presented here are solely meant for the entertainment of the reader. This content, in no way, encourages the reader to execute any of these laws in court, without getting them verified by an attorney.

Just Got Proxied!

Reaching in time for the marriage is the foremost duty for the soon-to-be-wed couples. But, if you happen to live in California, Colorado, Texas, or Montana, and are in the armed forces, then you just have to get a good friend of yours (called a 'proxy') who can stand in for you. This is called a proxy marriage.
While in California, Colorado, and Texas, either the bride or the groom can be represented by a proxy, Montana is the only state which allows the bride and the groom to be each represented by another person (double proxy marriage).

Publish it Out Loud

If you are planning an international wedding, and have chosen Greece as the destination, then you need to learn the art of shouting out loud.
In this part of the world, you must officially publish your wedding notice in the local newspaper, written in Greek. You must do this if you want to obtain a marriage license in Greece. In places where there are no local newspapers, you can post the notice at the City Hall.
Lose the Birthday Suit!
If you live in Salem, Massachusetts, and someday, you feel like doing something adventurous, like say, spending a cozy night in a rented room with your wife, then you may want to put your pajamas on. That's right, you cannot be in your 'birthday suit' in such circumstances - that's illegal; painful, but true!
Kissed and Busted!
It's finally Sunday, and you get some time off with your wife. After asking your neighbor to look after your pet dog, you take your wife to a food joint, where they serve amazing breakfast. Oh, you also have tickets for a romantic movie, and have reservations for a candlelight dinner too.
How romantic! Later in the evening, you stroll through the town, watching the birds retire for the day, the sun slowly going down, and the street lights casting their soft, yellow glow on the nearby hedges and the shingled rooftops. Carried away by the moment, you draw your wife closer, smile, utter those three words, give her a kiss, and land up in prison.
Wait, what? What happened there? Well, in Hartford, Connecticut, it is illegal for a man to kiss his wife in public on Sundays. So, if you happen to live there, better save the kiss for another day!
The Marriage Afterlife
Cutting a long story short, in France it is legal for a person to marry a deceased person, who intended to get married while alive - this is known as a posthumous marriage.
For the marriage to be approved by the law, the family of the deceased must stand as witness for the couple's intention of getting married. Why would you want to do that? Well, we are as stumped as you on that one!
In Utah, you are not only responsible for your actions, but for your wife's too, that is, while she is in your presence. So, if someday your wife gets any fresh ideas of mugging a poor old fellow across the street, then you have two options - save the poor old fellow, or do what every smart man does, run!
40 Days Old
If it is France where you want to take your vows, kiss the bride, and put the 'just married' sticker at back of your car (with dangling tin cans, if you wish), then there may be slight 'problem'.
According to laws in France, at least one of you has to spend 40 days in country before the wedding. 40 days you say, and just one of you? Well, no problem at all! There you go, France is your best bet, if the food doesn't agree with you, and you end up dead, at least marriage can still go on.
10 Days on the Door
Monaco is another corner of the earth where you cannot keep your marriage a secret. Similar to the laws in Greece, public announcement of your marriage is a necessity in Monaco as well.
Thankfully, you don't need to announce your marriage in the local newspaper, just a scribble on a piece of paper will do. The catch is that you have to stick it on the door of the Town Hall - and that too for 10 days! To make it worse, you need to post the note on such a day so that the 10-day period includes two Sundays. So France it is then!
In Hong Kong, a wife is legally allowed to kill her husband if she finds him cheating on her. However, she can do this only with her bare hands. Husbands in Hong Kong, if you decide to become adulterous at some point of your life, better not let your wives learn some wicked martial art technique. Haiyah!
Forget-Me-Birthday-Not!
If you forget your wife's birthday, a nice dinner (if you're lucky), and a vacation or jewelry as your backup plan can do wonders to keep all hell from breaking loose.
But, if you are in Samoa, you are s**t outta luck. Hell will break loose from two sides - from your wife and from the law. It is illegal in Samoa to forget your wife's birthday. So, if you live there, better get a good reminder app for your phone. Or better yet, get the date tattooed on your arm. In a big font.
No Hocus Pocus!
As exciting as it may sound to have your favorite palm reader, fortune teller, seer, or mystic perform or officiate your marriage ceremony, it is illegal in New Orleans. So, if you happen to ask Professor Sybil Trelawney or Kiki for their marriage services, you may land up in jail, and they probably won't see this coming.
Are You Serious?
If you propose an unmarried woman only to seduce her and not with the actual intention of marrying her, then you may get away with a few insults, names, or probably a black eye.
But if you are in South Carolina and over 16 years of age, and do the same thing, then you are committing a violation under the 'Offenses Against Morality and Decency Act'. You may be fined at the discretion of the court, or do time for not more than a year. So, if you say it, you better mean it!
Three Strikes and You're Out!
This is how it goes... Strike 1 - You meet a guy in college, you fall in love, and you decide to get hitched. Then after some time, the guy turns out to be a jerk, and you file for divorce.
Strike 2 - You meet the same guy after a few years. You feel he is more mature and sensible now. You fall for him again, start dating, and think of giving it one more shot, only to realize that he is worse than before. Divorced again!
Strike 3 - Life is not easy, but it can be funny. The man calls you and somehow makes you gulp the third-time's-the-charm pill. Married again! History repeats, and separation follows.
OUT! - Phew! Now, if at this stage you realize that you cannot really get over your ex, and somehow convince yourself to try one last (like the really, really, really last) time, then this is where the law steps in. In Kentucky, it is illegal to marry the same man four times. Well, someone needs to stop the madness, right?
As said, some marriage laws are just outrageous to think that they are true. From marrying the dead, to allowing wives to kill their husbands with their hands, these laws are just weird. We hope that no one has ever taken a case with these laws to court, but if you need a law to stop someone marrying the same person 4 times, we guess anything is possible.