Do Other Countries Have Putative Marriages?

Most countries recognize international marriage as a result of the Hague Convention on Celebration and Recognition of the Validity of Marriages of 1978. While all countries are free to make their own laws regarding traditional marriage of tourists, every country that signed the Hague Convention is legally obligated to recognize a marriage that took place in another country signed on to the Hague Convention, as long as the marriage is legal.

A putative marriage is one that is thought to be traditional at some point. Since one or both parties are unaware that the marriage is not legitimate, any laws that apply to international marriage may still stand. Putative marriages are recognized in some form in almost all of the United States. In Europe, the concept of putative marriage is widely acknowledged.

Laws exist to protect the putative spouse, since he or she is thought to be innocent in the matter. There are also laws to help any children of a putative union. For the most part, even the strict Canon Laws grant legitimacy to any child born into a putative marriage, even though that child was technically born to an unmarried couple.

Other countries have similar standards as America when it comes to defining a putative marriage. The same three conditions of a putative marriage apply in other countries.