Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Avail of marriage
see valor maritagii.
Fleet marriage
Hist. A clandestine marriage performed in the 17th or 18th century in the Fleet prison in London by a chaplain who had been imprisoned for debt. ( Parliament attempted to stop the practice, but it was not until the statute of 26 George 2, ch. 33, declaring marriages performed outside public chapels or churches to be void and punishable as a felony, that the practice ceased.
Fleet marriage.
See MARRIAGE (1)
Gretna-Green marriage
A marriage entered into in a jurisdiction other than where the parties reside to avoid some legal impediment that exists where they live; a runaway marriage. ( Gretna Green is a Scottish village close to the English border that served as a convenient place for eloping English couples to wed. "A 'Gretna-Green marriage' was a marriage solemnized in Scotland by parties who went there to avoid the delay and formalities required in England .... In the United States, the term describes marriages celebrated between residents of a State who go to a place beyond and yet near to the boundary line of an adjoining State, on account of some advantage afforded by the law of that State." William C. Anderson, A Dictionary of Law 496 (1889).
Marriage
n. 1. The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. ( Although the common law regarded marriage as a civil contract, it is more properly the civil status or relationship existing between a man and a woman who agree to and do live together as spouses. The essentials of a valid marriage are (1) parties legally capable of contracting marriage, (2) mutual consent or agreement, and (3) an actual contracting in the form prescribed by law. "It has frequently been said by courts, and even by Legislatures, that marriage is a 'civil contract.' But to conclude from these statements that marriage ... has all, or even many, of the incidents of an ordinary private contract, would be a grave error. In fact, these statements to the effect that marriage is a 'civil contract' will be found, upon examination, to have been used only for the purpose of expressing the idea that marriage, in the American states, is a civil, and not a religious institution, or that . . . in some states mutual consent alone without formal celebration is sufficient to constitute a valid marriage known as a common law marriage, or that, as is true in all states, the mutual consent of the parties is essential, even in the case of a ceremonial marriage." Joseph W. Madden, Handbook of the Law of Persona and Domestic Relations § 1-3, at 2-3 (1931).
Royal Marriages Act
A 1772 statute (12 Geo. 3, ch. 1) forbidding members of the royal family from marrying without the sovereign's permission, except on certain conditions. "Royal Marriages Act . . . . An Act occasioned by George III's fear of the effect on the dignity and honour of the royal family of members thereof contracting unsuitable marriages, two of his brothers having done so . . . . It provided that marriages of descendants of George II, other than the issue of princesses who marry into foreign families, should not be valid unless they had the consent of the King in Council, or, if the parties were aged over 25, they had given 12 months' notice to the Privy Council, unless during that time both Houses of Parliament expressly declare disapproval of the proposed marriage." David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 1091 (1980).
Scotch marriage
A marriage by consensual contract, without the necessity of a formal ceremony, so called because this kind of marriage was until 1940 recognized as valid under Scots law.
acte de marriage
A marriage certificate.
bum-marriage doctrine
The principle that the marital-witness privilege may not be asserted by a partner in a marriage that is in fact moribund, though legally valid. See marital privilege (2) under PRIVILEGE (3).
ceremonial marriage
See MARRIAGE (2)
civil marriage
A wedding ceremony conducted by an official, such as a judge, or by some other authorized person - as distinguished from one solemnized by a member of the clergy.
clandestine marriage
1.A marriage that rests merely on the agreement of the parties. 2. A marriage entered into in a secret way, as one solemnized by an unauthorized person or without all required formalities. See Fleet marriage.
clandestine marriage.
See MARRIAGE
common-law marriage
A marriage that takes legal effect, without license or ceremony, when a couple live together as husband and wife, intend to be married, and hold themselves out to others as a married couple. ( Common-law marriages are permitted in 14 states and in the District of Columbia. - Also termed informal marriage.
consensual marriage
See MARRIAGE (1).
consular marriage
A marriage solemnized in a foreign country by a consul or diplomatic official of the United States. ( Consular marriages are recognized in some jurisdictions.
covenant marriage
A marriage that is entered into under a law establishing certain requirements for marriage and divorce in a state that otherwise allows for no-fault divorce. ( In the late 1990s, several states (beginning with Louisiana) passed laws providing for covenant marriages. The requirements vary, but most of these laws require couples who opt for a covenant marriage to undergo premarital counseling. A divorce will be granted only after the couple has undergone marital counseling and has been separated for a specified period (usu. at.least 18 months). The divorce prerequisites typically can be waived with proof that a spouse has committed adultery, been convicted of a felony, abandoned the family for at least one year, or physically or sexually abused the other spouse or a child. - Also termed high-test marriage.
cross-marriage
See MARRIAGE (1)
de facto marriage
A marriage that, despite the parties' living under color of law as man and wife, is defective for some reason.
defunct marriage
A marriage in which both parties, by their conduct, indicate their intent to no longer be married.
detinue of goods in frankmarriage
Hist. A writ allowing a divorced wife to obtain the goods given to her during the marriage.
dsissolution of marriage
See DIVORCE
entry for marriage in speech
See causa matrimonii praelocuti under CAUSA (1).
forfeiture of marriage
Hist. A penalty exacted by a lord from a ward who married without the lord's consent. ( The penalty was a money payment double the value that the marriage would otherwise have been worth to the lord.
frankmarriage.
Hist. An entailed estate in which the donor retains control of the, land by refusing to accept feudal services from the donee (usu. the donor's daughter) for three generations. a If the donee's issue fail in that time, the land returns to the donor. A donor who accepted homage (and the corresponding services arising from it) from the donee risked losing control of the land to a collateral heir. After three generations - a time considered sufficient to demonstrate that the line was well established - the donee's heir could insist on paying homage; doing so transformed the estate into a fee simple. - Also termed liberum mantagium. See MARITAGIUM.
green-card marriage
See sham rrfarriage.
green-card marriage.
See sham marriage under MARRIAGE (1).
high-test marriage
See covenant marriage.
informal marriage
See common-law marriage.
informal marriage.
See common-law marriage under MARRIAGE (1).
irremediable breakdown of the marriage
See IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN OF THE MARRIAGE.
irretrievable breakdown of the marriage
A ground for divorce that is based on incompatibility between marriage partners and that is used in many states as the sole ground of nofault divorce. - Also termed irretrievable breakdown; irremediable breakdown of the marriage. Cf. IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES.
jactitation of marriage
Hist. 1. False and actionable boasting or claiming that one is married to another. 2. An action against a person who falsely boasts of being married to the complainant. "Jactitation of marriage is a cause of action which arises when a person falsely alleges that he or she is married to the petitioner, and the remedy sought is a perpetual injunction against the respondent to cease making such allegations. The cause is now uncommon in English municipal law and almost unknown in the conflict of laws." R.H. Graveson, Conflict of Laws 349 (7th ed. 1974).
left-handed marriage
See morganatic marriage.
marriage article
A premarital stipulation between spouses who intend to incorporate the stipulation in a postnuptial agreement.
marriage broker
One who arranges a marriage in exchange for consideration. ( A marriage broker may be subject to criminal liability for public-policy reasons.
marriage ceremony
The religious or civil proceeding that solemnizes a marriage. - Also termed wedding.
marriage certificate
A document that is executed by the religious or civil official presiding at a marriage ceremony and filed with a public authority (usu. the county clerk) as evidence of the marriage. marriage in jest. See MARRIAGE (1).
marriage in jest
A voidable marriage in which the parties lack the requisite intent to marry.
marriage license
A document, issued by a public authority, that grants a couple permission to marry. ( Most states require the couple to take blood tests before obtaining the license.
marriage of convenience
1 A marriage contracted for social or financial advantages rather than out of mutual love. - Also termed mariage de convenance. 2. Loosely, an ill-considered marriage that, at the time, is convenient to the parties involved.
marriage portion
See DOWRY
marriage promise
A betrothal; an engagement to be married.
marriage records
Government or church records containing information on prospective couples (such as a woman's maiden name and address) and on wedding services performed.
marriage settlement
See MARITAL AGREEMENT, PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT.
marriage-notice book
An English registry of marriage applications and licenses. marriage of convenienceSee MARRIAGE (1).
mixed marriage
See MISCEGENATION.
morganatic marriage
See MARRIAGE (1).
nullity of marriage
, 1. The invalidity of a presumed or supposed marriage because it is void on its face or has been voided by court order. ( A void marriage, as in an incestuous marriage, is invalid on its face and requires no formality to end. A voidable marriage, such as a marriage lacking requisite parental consent, requires a court order to invalidate."The declaration of nullity is appropriate if the marriage is relatively null or absolutely null yet one or both spouses were in good faith. If the marriage is relatively null, civil effects flow until the declaration of nullity. On the other hand, the marriage that is absolutely null generally produces civil effects only if one or both of the spouses were in good faith and only so long as good faith lasts." 16 Katherine S. Spaht & W. Lee Hargrave, Louisiana Ciuil Law Treatise: Matrimonial Regimes § 7.6, at 348 (2d ed. 1997).2. A suit brought to nullify a marriage. SeeANNULMENT.
plural marriage
A marriage in which one spouse is already married to someone else; a bigamous or polygamous union.