If a bride purposely lies on her marriage license, is the marriage legal?

Get Legal Help Today

Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

If a bride purposely lies on her marriage license, is the marriage legal?

Bride got re-married and used her e-x-husband’s SSN on her marriage license in place of her own therefore committing identity theft and fraud.

Asked on May 4, 2011 under Family Law, Illinois

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

For a definitive answer, you need to consult with a family or matrimonial law attorney. As a general matter, as long as it is clear whom the person is who is getting married, the marriage would be valid despite an error in spelling the name or the social security number; you need to look at the whole context, and see if it is still clear that the "correct" person was getting married. As to whether this is identify theft or fraud, again, you need to look to the context--was there any benefit to the bride, or detriment to the husband? or was this simply an error without impact?--and also to the bride's state of mind--criminal liability depends on criminal intention; in most circumstances, an honest error is not criminal.

So for example, if the bride simply was used to writing the ex-husband's SS# (maybe she took care of banking, financing, insurance, and taxes, for example) and accidentally wrote his, not her own, that is a harmless error that just needs the paperwork to be corrected.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption