Kind of an awkward thread title, but I didn’t know how to boil it down any better. My girlfriend and I (a lesbian couple) have just gotten engaged. We are planning a trip to Las Vegas in January. Now, as far as I know, same-sex marriage is not legal in Nevada, but we are both Canadian citizens, where same-sex marriage is legal and has equal status with heterosexual marriage. Could we get married in Vegas, and by virtue of being citizens of a country where gay marriage is legal - would we be legally married when we got back to Canada?
No. Sorry.
You can get married in Massachusetts though.
You can’t get married in NY, but your Canadian marriage would be valid there.
You could probably find a place in Vegas to have a ceremony, but it would not be legally binding.
My first thought would be no, you couldn’t get married in Las Vegas. You’d essentially be asking the Nevadan who would be performing the marriage to break the law of Nevada through applying Canada’s laws in his or her jurisdiction. This doesn’t seem possible, any more than American law would apply in Canada.
If you really want to do something like this in Las Vegas, perhaps you could ask if, say, a commitment ceremony (for lack of a better term) could be performed. No paperwork, nothing legal, but you can still have the flowers, music, etc. and a few nice words from an Elvis impersonator. 
Maybe I phrased the question badly, or am irredeemably dense I know that I couldn’t get a “legal marriage” in Nevada, as SSM is not legal there, but if we had some sort of ceremony (maybe a domestic partnership - not sure if that exists in Nevada), would it carry more import or be equivalent to a marriage, since we are citizens of a country where SSM exists?
Maybe bad phrasing. I don’t think you’re dense, irredeemably or otherwise.
I think the answer would still be, “no.” I have not read the necessary Acts for every Canadian province so details may vary; but as a general rule of thumb, the provinces each recognize that a marriage legally performed in Nevada (or in any other jurisdiction: New Jersey, Oregon, the UK, France…) is legal in the province. The reverse is equally true: if a marriage is not legally performed in a jurisdiction, it won’t be legally recognized in or by a Canadian province.
This latter bit is what you’re asking about, it seems to me. If you cannot be legally married, committed, joined, or whatever in a ceremony that is conducted in Nevada, then your home province won’t legally recognize anything coming from such a ceremony. The key word is “legally.” You and your partner can, of course, consider yourselves married after such a ceremony, but you’re not legally married in the eyes of the Canadian provinces; and as a result, you won’t be able to realize any legal benefits back home in Canada. Of course, you could always get legally married in Canada before or after you go to Nevada, but that would be up to you.
Necessary disclaimer: This is general information only and is not to be construed as legal advice. For competent legal advice specific to your jurisdiction, consult a practitioner licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.
Nevada does not have any same-sex legally binding unions.
The ceremony would be just a ceremony and would not be a legal union anywhere.
Canada will recognize any legal marriage that meets the laws of Canada(Sorry no bigamy or biandre for you polygamists and polyandrists out there). But nowhere in Nevada can anyone perform a legal same sex marriage.
You basically have to get a civil marriage in Canada(Or any of the 5 states in the US where gay marriage is legal…), but can have a fun ceremony/honeymoon in Vegas.
To make it more clear, if you got a non-legally-binding marriage ceremony in Nevada, you could go back to Canada the next day and marry someone completely different, and Canada would not recognize you were ever married to the first person. The ceremony would carry no legal weight anywhere you went in the world.
Nevada has had domestic partnership since the first of this month.
Given that Canada recognizes common-law marriages, you may not need to have an “official” marriage in Las Vegas. Provided you meet cohabitation requirements, the government may consider you to be married if you simply claim that you are.
Canada does not recognize common law marriages. That is, merely living together does not make you married. Rather, most Canadian provinces ( but not Quebec, I believe) now treat couples who have lived together for a lengthy period of time as if they were married, entitled to all the same rights as married couples. But that’s not the same as a common law marriage, which as far as I know, is not recognized in any province.
My understanding of the Ontario Family Law Act is that it specifically recognizes common law marriages where the spouses have been cohabitating for at least three years. Of course, you’re the lawyer, so maybe you can set me right on this.
Eh? I thought that was the definition of common-law marriage: you live together and act married.
The Ontario Family Law Act gives an umarried couple some rights, but that is not the same thing as saying they are married.
The general definition of “spouse” is found in s. 1 of the Act:
So, the Act in general does not confer any rights on couples who live together. for example, they are not considered spouses for the purposes of property division under the Act; only married couples are subject to those provisions.
However, Part III of the Act dealing with support obligations, uses a broader definition of “spouse”, in s. s. 29:
Note that this provision doesn’t say that a couple living together are married; simply that for the purposes of support, they are considered to be spouses.
I just called the chapel where my ex and I renewed our vows several years ago (Sorry for any bad karma there!) They do not perform same sex ceremonies (which is why I’m not posting their name here), but other chapels do. In Vegas, they call them committment ceremonies, and apparently they aren’t directly associated with joining into domestic partnership.
I’ve linked to this article before. But here it is again: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/grossman/20090804.html
There are obviously exceptions to this common law rule, but they all pertain to the validly-contracted marriage that will not be recognized in other states. No state (or province–Canada is also a common law country) will recognize a legally ineffective “marriage” from a state whose laws would prohibit such marriages.
I don’t think the debate was over “spouse”, though. It was over “are married”. Ontario law could grant common law marriages without giving spousal rights to cohabitants.
It could, but it doesn’t. Under the Marriage Act, marriages must be solemnized under the procedure set out in the Act. That excludes common law marriages.
Confusion of terminology.
Historically, the common law did recognize that as a way for a binding marriage to be created, without the need for a ceremony. I’ve seen previous discussions on this board indicating that some of the U.S. states still recognize such marriages. However, it’s my understanding that none of the Canadian provinces recognize a marriage unless it’s been solemnized according to the provincial marriage act. Simply living together and holding yourselves out to be married does not create a married status.
What most people call a “common law marriage” today isn’t a marriage, in law. They are simply living together, and their legal rights and obligations were originally governed simply by the common law. Increasingly, Legislatures have recognized common law unions by giving some statutory rights to the couple, but those statutory rights may not be the same as those granted to a married couple. For example, in Ontario, a couple living common law have rights/duties of support to each other under the Family Law Act, as mentioned earlier, but not rights of division of property. That issue is still governed in Ontario by the common law of trusts. Rights of inheritance may also vary. In other provinces, such as Saskatchewan and Manitoba, couples living common law have the same statutory rights as married couples.
Another key difference, in addition to the rights of the couple, is the question of how the relationship comes to an end. A true common law marriage is like a marriage performed by a ceremony, and can only be ended by divorce. Until that happens, neither of the couple is free to re-marry. However, a couple living common law do not have the same permanence. One member of the couple can walk out and get married to someone else the next day.
What wikipedia says about common law in Canada. In the US, it is only recognized by 11 states and DC.