CHAPTER 11 PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

1101. Short title of part.

This part shall be known and may be cited as the Marriage Law.
1102. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this part shall have the meanings
given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
"Marriage." A civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other for
husband and wife.
"Marriage license" or "license." A license to marry issued under this part.
1103. Common-law marriage.
No common-law marriage contracted after January 1, 2005, shall be valid. Nothing
in this part shall be deemed or taken to render any common-law marriage otherwise
lawful and contracted on or before January 1, 2005, invalid.
CHAPTER 13 MARRIAGE LICENSE
1301. Marriage license required.
(a) General rule.--No person shall be joined in marriage in this Commonwealth
until a marriage license has been obtained.
(b) Place of marriage ceremony.--A license issued under this part shall authorize a
marriage ceremony to be performed in any county of this Commonwealth.
(c) Identity of applicants.--Prior to issuance of the license, the person issuing the
license must be satisfied as to the identity of both of the applicants.
1302. Application for license.
(a) General rule.--No marriage license shall be issued
except upon written and verified application made by both of the
parties intending to marry.
(b) Contents.--The application shall contain the following:
(1) The full name of the applicants.

(2) The occupation, birthplace, residence and age of the applicants. An applicant
intending to marry who is a program participant in the Address Confidentiality Program
under
Chapter 67 (relating to domestic and sexual violence victim address confidentiality) may
use the substitute address designated by the Office of Victim Advocate pursuant to
Chapter 67 as the address of their residence.
(3) Whether the marriage contemplated is the first, second or other marriage of an
applicant.
(4) A statement that neither of the applicants is afflicted with transmissible
disease.
(5) The full name, residence, occupation and birthplace of the parents of each
applicant, including the maiden name of the mother of each applicant. An applicant may
use the

substitute address designated by the Office of Victim Advocate pursuant to

Chapter 67 for a parent's residence if:

(i) the applicant is a program participant in the Address Confidentiality
Program under Chapter 67 and the applicant resides with the applicant's parents; or
(ii) the applicant's parent is a program participant in the Address
Confidentiality Program under Chapter 67.
(6) Any other facts necessary to determine whether a legal impediment to the
proposed marriage exists.
1303. Waiting period after application.
(a) General rule.--No marriage license shall be issued prior to the third day
following the making of application therefor.
(b) Exceptions.--The court may authorize a license to be issued at any time after
the making of the application in the following cases:
(1) In case of emergency or extraordinary circumstances.
(2) If an applicant is a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard or other
reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and is called or ordered to
active duty

with the armed forces of the United States.

1304. Restrictions on issuance of license.

(a) Examinations and tests for syphilis.--(Repealed).

(b) Minors.-(1) No marriage license may be issued if either of the applicants for a license is
under 16 years of age unless the court decides that it is to the best interest of the applicant
and authorizes the issuance of the license.
(2) No marriage license may be issued if either of the applicants is under 18 years
of age unless the consent of the custodial parent or guardian of the applicant is personally
given before the person issuing the license or is certified under the hand of the custodial
parent or guardian attested by two adult witnesses and, in the latter case, the signature of
the custodial parent or guardian is acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to
take acknowledgments. When the minor has no guardian and a judge of the court is
absent or not accessible for any reason, the office issuing the license may appoint a
guardian pro hac vice for the minor.
(c) Incompetent persons.--No marriage license may be issued if either of the
applicants for a license is weak minded, insane, of unsound mind or is under guardianship
as a person of
unsound mind unless the court decides that it is for the best interest of the applicant
and the general public to issue the license and authorizes the issuance of the license.
(d) Persons under influence of alcohol or drugs.No marriage license may be
issued if, at the time of making application, either of the applicants is under the influence
of alcohol or drugs.
(e) Marriage to relatives.--No marriage license may be issued to applicants within
the prohibited degrees of consanguinity which are as follows:
A man may not marry his mother.
A man may not marry the sister of his father.
A man may not marry the sister of his mother.
A man may not marry his sister.
A man may not marry his daughter.
A man may not marry the daughter of his son or daughter.
A man may not marry his first cousin.
A woman may not marry her father.
A woman may not marry the brother of her father.

A woman may not marry the brother of her mother.

A woman may not marry her brother.
A woman may not marry her son.
A woman may not marry the son of her son or daughter.
A woman may not marry her first cousin.
1306. Oral examination.
(a) General rule.--Each of the applicants for a marriage
license shall appear in person and shall be examined under oath
or affirmation as to:
(1) The legality of the contemplated marriage.
(2) Any prior marriage or marriages and its or their dissolution.
(3) The restrictions set forth in section 1304 (relating to restrictions on issuance
of license).
(4) All the information required to be furnished on the application for license as
prepared and approved by the department.
(b) Exception.--If an applicant is unable to appear in person because of his active
military service, the applicant shall be permitted to forward an affidavit, which verifies all
of the information required under subsection (a), to the issuing authority.
(c) Form.--The department shall develop and make available affidavit forms to be
used by applicants under subsection (b).
(d) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "active military service" means
active service in any of the armed services or forces of the United States or this
Commonwealth.
1307. Issuance of license.
The marriage license shall be issued if it appears from properly completed
applications on behalf of each of the parties to the proposed marriage that there is no
legal objection to the

marriage. Except as provided by section 1303(b) (relating to

waiting period after application), the license shall not be issued prior to the third day
following the date of the most recent of the two applications therefor.
1310. Duration and form of license.
The marriage license shall not be valid for a longer period than 60 days from the
date of issue.
1702. Marriage during existence of former marriage.
(a) General rule.--If a married person, during the lifetime of the other person with
whom the marriage is in force, enters into a subsequent marriage pursuant to the
requirements of this

part and the parties to the marriage live together thereafter as

husband and wife, and the subsequent marriage was entered into by one or both of the
parties in good faith in the full belief
that the former spouse was dead or that the former marriage has been annulled or
terminated by a divorce, or without knowledge of the former marriage, they shall, after
the impediment to their marriage has been removed by the death of the other party to the
former marriage or by annulment or divorce, if they continue to live together as husband
and wife in good faith on

the part of one of them, be held to have been legally married

from and immediately after the date of death or the date of the decree of annulment or
divorce.
(b) False rumor of death of spouse.--Where a remarriage has occurred upon false
rumor of the death of a former spouse in appearance well-founded but there has been no
decree of presumed death, the remarriage shall be void and subject to annulment by either
party to the remarriage as provided by section 3304 (relating to grounds for annulment of
void marriages), and the returning spouse shall have cause for divorce as provided in
section 3301 (relating to grounds for divorce).
(c) Criminal penalties.--Where the remarriage was entered into in good faith,
neither party to the remarriage shall be subject to criminal prosecution for bigamy.

1703. Marriage within degree of consanguinity.

All marriages within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity as set forth in this part
are voidable, but, when any of these marriages have not been dissolved during the
lifetime of the
parties, the unlawfulness of the marriage shall not be inquired into after the death of
either of the parties to the marriage.
1704. Marriage between persons of the same sex.
It is hereby declared to be the strong and longstanding public policy of this
Commonwealth that marriage shall be between one man and one woman. A marriage
between persons of the same sex which was entered into in another state or foreign
jurisdiction, even if valid where entered into, shall be void in this Commonwealth.

 3102. Legislative findings and intent.

(a) Policy.--The family is the basic unit in society and the protection and
preservation of the family is of paramount public concern. Therefore, it is the policy of
the Commonwealth to:
(1) Make the law for legal dissolution of marriage effective for dealing with the
realities of matrimonial experience.
(2) Encourage and effect reconciliation and settlement of differences between
spouses, especially where children are involved.
(3) Give primary consideration to the welfare of the family rather than the
vindication of private rights or the punishment of matrimonial wrongs.
(4) Mitigate the harm to the spouses and their children caused by the legal
dissolution of the marriage.
(5) Seek causes rather than symptoms of family disintegration and cooperate with
and utilize the resources available to deal with family problems.
(6) Effectuate economic justice between parties who are divorced or separated
and grant or withhold alimony according to the actual need and ability to pay of the
parties and insure a fair and just determination and settlement of their property rights.
(b) Construction of part.--The objectives set forth in subsection (a) shall be
considered in construing provisions of this part and shall be regarded as expressing the
legislative intent.
3103. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this part shall have the meanings
given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Alimony." An order for support granted by this Commonwealth or any other state
to a spouse or former spouse in conjunction with a decree granting a divorce or
annulment.
"Alimony pendente lite." An order for temporary support granted to a spouse
during the pendency of a divorce or annulment proceeding.
"Divorce." Divorce from the bonds of matrimony.
"Grounds for divorce." The grounds enumerated in section 3301 (relating to
grounds for divorce).
"Irretrievable breakdown." Estrangement due to marital difficulties with no
reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
"Qualified professionals." Includes marriage counselors, psychologists,
psychiatrists, social workers, ministers, priests, rabbis or other persons who, by virtue of
their training and experience, are able to provide counseling.
"Separate and apart." Cessation of cohabitation, whether living in the same
residence or not. In the event a complaint in divorce is filed and served, it shall be
presumed that the parties commenced to live separate and apart not later than the date
that the complaint was served.
"Spousal support." Care, maintenance and financial assistance.
3301. Grounds for divorce.
(a) Fault.--The court may grant a divorce to the innocent and injured spouse
whenever it is judged that the other spouse has:

(1) Committed willful and malicious desertion, and absence from the habitation
of the injured and innocent spouse, without a reasonable cause, for the period of one or
more years.
(2) Committed adultery.
(3) By cruel and barbarous treatment, endangered the life or health of the injured
and innocent spouse.
(4) Knowingly entered into a bigamous marriage while a former marriage is still
subsisting.
(5) Been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two or more years upon
conviction of having committed a crime.
(6) Offered such indignities to the innocent and injured spouse as to render that
spouse's condition intolerable and life burdensome.
(b) Institutionalization.--The court may grant a divorce from a spouse upon the
ground that insanity or serious mental disorder has resulted in confinement in a mental
institution for at least 18 months immediately before the commencement of an action
under this part and where there is no reasonable prospect that the spouse will be
discharged from inpatient care during the 18 months subsequent to the commencement of
the action. A presumption that no prospect of discharge exists shall be established by a
certificate of the superintendent of the institution to that effect and which includes a
supporting statement of a treating physician.
(c) Mutual consent.--The court may grant a divorce where it is alleged that the
marriage is irretrievably broken and 90 days have elapsed from the date of
commencement of an action under this part and an affidavit has been filed by each of the
parties evidencing that each of the parties consents to the divorce.
(d) Irretrievable breakdown.-(1) The court may grant a divorce where a complaint has been filed alleging that
the marriage is irretrievably broken and an affidavit has been filed alleging that the
parties have lived separate and apart for a period of at least two years and that the
marriage is irretrievably broken and the defendant either:
(i) Does not deny the allegations set forth in the affidavit.
(ii) Denies one or more of the allegations set forth in the affidavit but, after
notice and hearing, the court determines that the parties have lived separate and apart
for a period of at least two years and that the marriage is irretrievably broken.
(2) If a hearing has been held pursuant to paragraph (1)(ii) and the court
determines that there is a reasonable prospect of reconciliation, then the court shall
continue the matter for a period not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days unless the
parties agree to a period in excess of 120 days. During this period, the court shall require
counseling as provided in section 3302 (relating to counseling). If the parties have not
reconciled at the expiration of the time period and one party states under oath that the
marriage is irretrievably broken, the court shall determine whether the marriage is
irretrievably broken. If the court determines that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the
court shall grant the divorce. Otherwise, the court shall deny the divorce.
(e) No hearing required in certain cases.--If grounds for divorce alleged in the
complaint or counterclaim are established under subsection (c) or (d), the court shall
grant a divorce without requiring a hearing on any other grounds.

 3302. Counseling.
(a) Indignities.--Whenever indignities under section 3301(a)(6) (relating to grounds
for divorce) is the ground for divorce, the court shall require up to a maximum of three
counseling sessions where either of the parties requests it.
(b) Mutual consent.--Whenever mutual consent under section 3301(c) is the ground
for divorce, the court shall require up to a maximum of three counseling sessions within
the 90 days following the commencement of the action where either of the parties
requests it.
(c) Irretrievable breakdown.--Whenever the court orders a continuation period as
provided for irretrievable breakdown in section 3301(d)(2), the court shall require up to a
maximum of three counseling sessions within the time period where either of the parties
requests it or may require such counseling where the parties have at least one child under
16 years of age.
(d) Notification of availability of counseling.Whenever section 3301(a)(6), (c) or
(d) is the ground for divorce, the court shall, upon the commencement of an action under
this part, notify both parties of the availability of counseling and, upon request, provide
both parties a list of qualified professionals who provide such services.
(e) Choice of qualified professionals unrestricted.The choice of a qualified
professional shall be at the option of the parties, and the professional need not be selected
from the list provided by the court.
(f) Report.--Where the court requires counseling, a report shall be made by the
qualified professional stating that the parties did or did not attend.
3303. Annulment of void and voidable marriages.
(a) General rule.--In all cases where a supposed or alleged marriage has been
contracted which is void or voidable under this title or under applicable law, either party
to the supposed or alleged marriage may bring an action in annulment to have it
declared void in accordance with the procedures provided by this part and prescribed by
general rules.
(b) Common-law marriage.--In the case of a purported common- law marriage
where a party was under 18 years of age, a parent or guardian of the minor may bring a
declaratory judgment proceeding during the party's minority to have the marriage
declared void.
3304. Grounds for annulment of void marriages.
(a) General rule.--Where there has been no confirmation by cohabitation following
the removal of an impediment, the supposed or alleged marriage of a person shall be
deemed void in the following cases:
(1) Where either party at the time of such marriage had an existing spouse and
the former marriage had not been annulled nor had there been a divorce except where that
party had obtained a decree of presumed death of the former spouse.
(2) Where the parties to such marriage are related within the degrees of
consanguinity prohibited by section 1304(e) (relating to restrictions on issuance of
license).
(3) Where either party to such marriage was incapable of consenting by reason of
insanity or serious mental disorder or otherwise lacked capacity to consent or did not
intend to consent to the marriage.

(4) Where either party to a purported common-law marriage was under 18 years
of age.
(b) Procedures.--In all cases of marriages which are void, the marriage may be
annulled as set forth in section 3303 (relating to annulment of void and voidable
marriages) or its invalidity may be declared in any collateral proceeding.
3305. Grounds for annulment of voidable marriages.
(a) General rule.--The marriage of a person shall be deemed voidable and subject to
annulment in the following cases:
(1) Where either party to the marriage was under 16 years of age unless the
marriage was expressly authorized by the court.
(2) Where either party was 16 or 17 years of age and lacked the consent of parent
or guardian or express authorization of the court and has not subsequently ratified
the marriage upon reaching 18 years of age and an action for annulment is commenced
within 60 days after the marriage ceremony.
(3) Where either party to the marriage was under the influence of alcohol or
drugs and an action for annulment is commenced within 60 days after the marriage
ceremony.
(4) Where either party to the marriage was at the time of the marriage and still is
naturally and incurably impotent unless the condition was known to the other party prior
to the marriage.
(5) Where one party was induced to enter into the marriage due to fraud, duress,
coercion or force attributable to the other party and there has been no subsequent
voluntary cohabitation after knowledge of the fraud or release from the effects of fraud,
duress, coercion or force.
(b) Status of voidable marriage.--In all cases of marriages which are voidable, either
party to the marriage may seek and obtain an annulment of the marriage but, until a
decree of annulment is obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction, the marriage shall
be valid. The validity of a voidable marriage shall not be subject to attack or question by
any person if it is subsequently confirmed by the parties to the marriage or if either party
has died.