# Is Marriage a Legal Contract? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816 "2009-12-11T03:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816/21 "2009-12-15T19:22:04Z")
> [@robcaro](#): > > There are 2 rules in a marriage: > > Rule 1: The wife is always right. > Rule 2: If you think the wife is wrong, refer to rule 1. Not to go off-topic, but can we retire this asinine bit of dreck some time soon? ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816/22 "2009-12-15T19:55:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? I’ve never seen it described that way before. just seeing this now: here is something from the Washington State Bar Association. I’m not going to drag out a Family Law casebook to find some law review article supporting the proposition that the state is a “party” to a marriage contract unless you _really_ want me to > [@](#): > > When you sign a marriage certificate, for example, you are signing a legal and binding contract. Specific conditions must be met and, like other contracts, a marriage creates certain rights and duties for each partner. Because the state is a party to the contract, court approval is required to change or end a marriage. [http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/pamphlets/marriage.htm](http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/pamphlets/marriage.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816/23 "2009-12-16T04:35:16Z")
Interesting - thanks for that link. Demonstrates a difference in approach to this issue in different jurisdictions - I’ve never heard marriage characterised that way here in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816/24 "2009-12-16T16:09:49Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Not to go off-topic, but can we retire this asinine bit of dreck some time soon? Sure. Rule #1: If she ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816/25 "2009-12-16T16:31:49Z")
Answered in one. My mom likes to tell the story of a wedding she attended in a small Ohio town along the Ohio River in the 1950s. For some reason at the time (she’s hazy on that) the ceremony had to be repeated in West Virginia, so during the reception, the priest, the bride and groom squeezed into the groom’s VW Beetle and zipped across the bridge for a 30-second-long second ceremony on West Virginia soil. Under Ohio law today, only municipal court and probate court judges can conduct weddings - not common pleas judges, appellate judges or even supreme court justices! So some judges will get one-day temporary appointments as a muni or probate judge just so they can conduct a ceremony for a friend or family member. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marriage-a-legal-contract/520816.md?page=1)