Article September 28, 1899 Issue

Marriages at Sea Illegal

The Marin Journal

Judge Dougherty of Santa Rosa has handed down a decision in which he holds that a marriage performed upon the high seas without a license is null and void. In substance the court, in a case before him involving this question, says,—

"Marriage may be solemnized by either a justice of the supreme court, judge of the superior court, justice of the peace, or priest or minister of the gospel of any denomination. No particular form for the ceremony is required, but the parties must declare in the presence of the person solemnizing the marriage to take each other as husband and wife. Marriage must be licensed, solemnized, authenticated, and recorded.

"The bonds of matrimony can only be welded through solemnization by some person authorized, and by him only upon the presentation of a marriage license. The parties to this pretended marriage gain nothing by going out upon the high seas. The sea has no law of its own. They were residents of California and amenable to California law.

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