You asked for a comparison of marriage laws in Connecticut and Mexico. For this report, we describe provisions in (1) Connecticut statutes and (2) the Civil and Commercial Codes of the Federal District (the area around Mexico City). The Mexican Embassy reports that all 31 Mexican states generally have similar procedures, although there is some variation based on local custom.

SUMMARY

Laws in Connecticut and Mexico specify (1) information that people seeking to marry must first disclose, (2) necessary medical examinations they must have, (3) age and other restrictions on who can marry, and (4) ceremonial formalities. Although the laws are similar, Mexican law requires a couple wanting to marry to produce more information, has more restrictions on who can marry, and requires the ceremony to be performed by a government official.

CONNECTICUT

Application Information

State law prohibits town clerks from issuing marriage licenses unless both people intending to marry personally appear (not necessarily together) and apply. Applications must (1) be dated, signed, and sworn by each applicant; (2) specify each applicant's name, age, Social Security number, race, occupation, birthplace, and residence; (3) specify whether single, widowed, or divorced; and (4) specify whether either is under the supervision of a conservator or guardian (CGS § 46b-25).

Depending on the circumstances and the issuing town's practices, clerks may request documents they deem necessary to establish marriage license eligibility. These commonly include passports, driver's licenses, and certified birth certificates.

Required Medical Information

Syphilis Tests. Each applicant must provide a signed statement from a licensed health professional (the law specifies the professionals who may do this) documenting that he or she is not infected with syphilis or in a communicable (i. e. , infectious) stage of that disease. The statement must indicate that the applicant submitted to a standard laboratory blood test and if the test was positive, had his skin and appropriate mucous membranes examined. A laboratory statement verifying the test and the exact name of the tested person must also accompany it. Neither the medical nor the laboratory statement contains the actual test results. Applicants must apply for licensure within 35 days of the blood test (CGS §§ 46b-24 and -26).

Rubella Immunity Tests. Female applicants under age 50 who may become pregnant must also submit a statement on a Public Health Department form, signed by one of the law's specified health professionals, indicating that they had a blood test for rubella (German measles) immunity along with a verifying laboratory statement. The law specifies that rubella immunity is not a prerequisite for marriage license issuance, but it mandates that applicants who may become pregnant be informed of their immune status and told of its pregnancy-related consequences (Id. ).

Exceptions. A probate judge for the district in which the marriage is to be celebrated can order that the test requirements be waived. He can do this after hearing evidence and concluding that public policy or the physical condition of either applicant requires the marriage to be celebrated without delay. When this occurs, the law permits registrars to issue licenses immediately, provided all other licensing requirements are met (CGS § 46b-27).

License Issuance to Relatives, Incompetent People, and Minors

Restrictions on Marriage Between Relatives. The law prohibits a person from marrying his parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, step sibling, child, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew (CGS § 46b-21).

Restrictions on Marriages of Incompetent People and Minors. When one of the two applicants for a licenseis either under a court-ordered conservatorship (i. e. , has been found to have a mental, emotional, or physical condition that prevents them from properly managing their affairs) or under age 18, additional requirements apply. In the former case, clerks cannot issue licenses without the conservator's written consent. Signatures on such documents must be made in the presence of, and acknowledged by, a judge, court clerk, attorney, or notary (CGS § 46b-29).

Minors cannot get marriage licenses without adult consent. If they are under age 16, the license must have a probate court judge's written notation granting the child permission to marry. All minors must provide documents showing their parents' or guardians' written consent, signed and acknowledged in the same manner as described above. A probate judge's consent, written on the license, is required when no parent or guardian lives in the United States (CGS § 46b-30).

Who Can Perform Ceremony

Marriages can be performed by judges (active and retired), family support magistrates, state referees, and justices of the peace in any town in the state. All clergymen ordained or licensed in this state or any other state who continue in the work of the ministry can also perform marriages. Finally, the law recognizes as valid all marriages solemnized according to the forms and uses of any religious denomination in the state, including marriages witnessed by a duly constituted Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is (CGS § 46b-22).

MEXICO

Application Information

The Mexican marriage application requires both applicants' full name, age, occupation, and address and the same information about each of their parents, if known. Information about prior spouses, including either the date and place of death or grounds and effective date of the prior marriage's dissolution must be given. The applicants must state on the application that they wish to be married and do not have a legal impediment to doing so. Photographs and fingerprints are also required.

The application must indicate whether the couple wants property they presently own or acquire during the marriage to be treated as community or separate property. If the parties are minors, this property agreement must be approved by the people whose prior consent is required for the marriage (Art. 97).

Applications are filed at the Civil Registry in the town where the couple plans to be married. Two witnesses who know both parties and who will attend the ceremony must also be present when the applications are filed. If satisfied with the application and other required documentation, the Civil Registry judge sets the date and time of the marriage. This must be within eight days of receipt of the completed application (Art. 101).

Medical Tests

A registered Mexican doctor must certify under oath that the applicants are free of syphilis, tuberculosis, or any other chronic and incurable disease that is contagious or inheritable (Art. 98).

Marriage Restrictions

Relatives Who Cannot Marry. Under Mexican law, a person cannot marry his parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling, or half-sibling. A judge must give permission to marry an uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece (Art. 156).

Marriages Involving Minors. People under age 18 cannot marry in Mexico without their parents' or guardians' consent (Art. 149). Brides must be at least age 14 and grooms at least age 16 unless the town's mayor or other designated government official grants an exemption based on compelling reasons and exceptional circumstances (Art. 148).

Other Restrictions

The following people cannot marry in Mexico:

1. couples who have been found guilty of engaging in adultery with each other,

2. those who have been involved in an attempt to kill one married partner in order to marry the survivor,

3. those who use force or fear to compel marriage or are the victims of such compulsion,

4. people with incurable impotency and chronic diseases which are incurable and which are also contagious or hereditary, and

5. those with diminished mental capacity as defined by law (Art. 156).

Who Can Perform Ceremony

Mexican law recognizes the legality of ceremonies performed by Civil Registry officers or judges only (Art. 102). Couples having completed this process can then be married by the clergyman of their choice, but the latter ceremony has no legal effect.

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