News for Non-MA Residents Who Married in MA Prior to 7/31/08
New publication provides important information Because of the so-called “1913 law,” most (but not all) non-Massachusetts same-sex couples were not simply free to come to Massachusetts and marry prior to the repeal of this law on July 31, 2008. The law affected couples in different ways depending upon what state they came from and what they said on the Massachusetts Notice of Intention to Marry about where they intended to live in the future. As a result, some of the out-of-state couples who came to Massachusetts actually never succeeded in effectively marrying (although they think they did) and some have a “defect” in their marriage. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has now created a process whereby couples can deal with the various problems created by the 1913 law. Those with the “defect” in their Massachusetts marriage can now cure it by “remarrying” in Massachusetts. Those who think they married but never legally did so can now actually marry that same person. And, of course, there are some non-Massachusetts couples who validly married in Massachusetts without any negative effect from the 1913 law. To learn more about where you fit into all this - and what you might or might not want to do about it and how to accomplish it – see GLAD’s publication, Legal Issues For Non-Massachusetts Same-Sex Couples Who Married In Massachusetts Prior To July 31, 2008.