HB 674 - AS INTRODUCED
1999 SESSION
HOUSE BILL 674
AN ACT relative to the solemnization of marriages.
SPONSORS: Rep. Robertson, Ches 18
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
This bill requires that any person seeking to solemnize a marriage must be commissioned by the state and removes from the statute any exemption to this requirement based on religion.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
99-0125
04/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine
AN ACT relative to the solemnization of marriages.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Marriages; Solemnization of Marriages; Who May Solemnize. RSA 457:31 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
457:31 Who May Solemnize. Marriage may be solemnized by a justice of the peace as commissioned in the state, or by any person duly commissioned in the state in the manner prescribed by the secretary of state.
2 Marriages; Solemnization of Marriage; Fee for Solemnizing; Penalty for Solemnization Without Valid Certificate; Reference Added. Amend RSA 457:33 and 457:34 to read as follows:
457:33 Fee for Solemnizing. The persons joined in marriage by a [minister or, justice of the peace], person duly commissioned in the state shall pay [the minister or, justice] such person a minimum of $5.
457:34 Penalty for Solemnization Without Valid Certificate. If a [minister or, justice of the peace], person duly commissioned in the state shall join any persons in marriage without having first received a certificate of the town clerk, or shall join any persons in marriage with a certificate which he or she knows to be invalid, he or she shall forfeit for each offense $60.
3 Marriages; Solemnization of Marriage; Effect of Informality; Reference Amended. Amend RSA 457:36 to read as follows:
457:36 Effect of Informality. No marriage solemnized before a person professing to be a justice of the peace
or [minister of the gospel] before any other person professing to be duly commissioned in the state to solemnize marriages shall be void, nor shall its validity be affected on account of want of jurisdiction or authority in such supposed justice or [minister] other person, or on account of any omission or informality in the certificate of intention of marriage, if the marriage is in other respects lawful and has been consummated with the belief on the part of either of the parties thereto that they were lawfully married.
4 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 457:31-a, relative to the issuance of a license to solemnize marriages to an unordained clergyman.
II. RSA 457:32, relative to special commissions issued by the secretary of state.
III. RSA 457:32-a, relative to solemnization of marriages by federal judges and federal magistrates.
IV. RSA 457:37, relative to certain religious exceptions to the solemnization of marriages.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2000.