Marriage

Types of marriage

There are several different ways in which people can be married. Traditionally, many marriages were conducted by religious authorities, such as churches or temples, but today, many countries chose to make the state responsible for marriage, with religious weddings either becoming symbolic or being cut out altogether. Some countries operate a mixed system, where civil and religious marriages are deemed equally valid. A few countries do not have any laws relating to marriage at all, with the government neither conducting civil marriages nor granting official recognition to religious marriages.

Civil marriage

• Aethelnia — marriage is registered/conducted with/by the municipality authorities. Religious ceremony may often follow, but has no official status and is not recognized by the government authorities.
• Estontetso — marriage is conducted and registered by a local authority (mayor, registrar). If a religious marriage is desired, it has to precede the civil ceremony.
• Feniz — marriage is conducted and registered by a local authority (chief, ombda). If a religious marriage is desired, it has to precede the civil ceremony.
• Greater Burovian Realm — religious marriages are not recognized. All marriages must be officially recognized and certified as per RealmsLaw.
•  Mari'im — marriage is conducted unofficially by the community, and then registered with the state sometime afterwards. Religious authorities may sometimes be incorporated into marriage, but have no formal role, either in tradition or law.
• Somery — marriage is conducted by a locally appointed government official. Religious ceremonies have no official status.

Religious marriage

• Allacoa — the marriage ceremony is conducted by a priest or minister. The state is obligated to recognize any such marriage as legally binding.
• Caboteniasa — the Caboteniasan state does not sponsor marriage, leaving that to religious organisations. Although the constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, marriage policy is considered to come under freedom of religion, and none of the larger churches accept same-sex marriage.
• St. Samuel — marriage is considered a holy act between man and women and can only be legally carried out in a church or mosque.
•  Trinia — marriage is conducted by one of the eight temples to the Second Ones, gods in the Astist religion. Plans exist to create a secular alternative, but have not yet been enacted.

Both

• Cimera — civil unions are legally binding contracts between any two people regardless. Licensed civic officials as well as clergy licensed by the state are permitted to officiate.
• Listonian Free State — two individuals can be married in either a civil ceremony by a commissioned official or by a religious authority. In both cases, the married couple must present their certificate of marriage to the Ministry of Justice for recording and formal legal recognition.
• Porto Capital — one can get married by a judge, by a religious authority, or both. Religious weddings have legal value if you take the certificate to a civil court. The reverse, of course, is not true.
• Rovens — marriage may be conducted in a church, but MUST be registered with civil authorities for legal status.
• Shaelia — marriages performed both by religious or civil authority are equally binding under the law. The Shaelic Cruisian Church, however, does not automatically recognize civil marriages, depending on the circumstances involved.
• Svarthaedir — marriage may be conducted in a church, but MUST be registered with civil authorities for legal status.
• Utania — marriages are usually performed in a church, however, state recognition is also required for purely legal reasons. Thus, it is possible to instead be married before a town mayor or judge.
•  Xochimechatl — marriage may be conducted either by one of the island's nine religious sects or by a local authority (a city or district council). Of the nine sects, six conduct marriages.

No official regulation of marriage

•  Lendosa — the Lendosan government will neither acknowledge nor dispute a person's claim to be married. (This policy dates back to a time of religious strife when it was decided that rather than chose between two different conceptions of marriage, the state would be completely uninvolved in the process.) Marriage is a matter for individuals to arrange for themselves — some involve a religious authority, and some do not. Because there is no official recognition of marriage, it can be a matter of opinion as to whether people are married or not — for example, same-sex partners or people in a polygamous relationship are free to consider themselves married, but equally, other people are free to reject that claim.

Who can marry?

Age requirements

Many countries around the world have age requirements for people wishing to marry. Sometimes, the requirement is different for men and women, and in countries which allow same-sex marriage, there may be different requirements for this as well. Some countries may have an age at which marriage is possible, but only with parental approval.

• Aethelnia — age requirement for marriage is 18 years of age, for both sexes. No exceptions.
• Allacoa — age requirement for marriage is 15 years of age, for both sexes. With written parental permission, one may marry at the age of thirteen.
• Greater Burovian Realm — age requirement for marriage is 18 years of age, for all genders.
• Cimera — age requirement for marriage is 18 years of age, for both sexes.
• Estontetso — age requirement for marriage is 18 years of age.
• Feniz — age requirement for marriage is 12 years of age for females if the male partner is at least 18, or, if his or her parents agree to care for a child, 16.
• Listonian Free State — age requirement is the age of consent, which is 16 for both sexes. There are no exceptions.
•  Mari'im — technically, women may get married as early as fifteen, but except in remote, traditionalist parts of the country, this is now rare. There is no fixed requirement for men, but they are required to be able to support a family.
• Porto Capital — age requirement for marriage is 15 years of age.
• Rovens — eighteen years of age, though Utani in Gvonj are known to flaunt this law.
• Shaelia — individuals must be at least 15 years old to legally marry.
• Somery — age requirement for marriage is 18 years of age. Marriage without the consent of either party is not allowed.
• St. Samuel — the age requirement for marriage is 16, however, this must be authorised by the bride and grooms fathers or closest male relative.
• Svarthaedir — age requirement for marriage is 18 years of age. Marriage without the consent of either party is not allowed.
•  Trinia — people must be eighteen years old to marry.
• Utania — Utani traditional law only proscribes 14+ for girls, therefore, despite some protests, Utanian national laws are quite relaxed, forbidding marriages only for girls under 14, boys under 16, and when the age difference for an under-18 is greater than four years.
•  Xochimechatl — restrictions vary. Secular authorities typically set their requirements somewhere between sixteen to twenty-one, and in some jurisdictions, may require parental approval for those under twenty-five. The three Sky Temples set a requirement of sixteen, the Church of San Alandro sets a requirement of eighteen, and the other religious authorities have no specific limit.

Re-marriage

There are differing views on whether people can or should marry again should their first marriage somehow end. Laws vary from country to country — some prohibit it completely, some allow it without restriction, and some take a stance somewhere in between.

Allows without restriction

• Aethelnia
• Estontetso
• Greater Burovian Realm
• Listonian Free State — people may re-marry after a valid divorce without restriction.
• Porto Capital
• Rovens
• Somery
• Svarthaedir
•  Trinia
• Utania — no state or legal constraint on re-marriage, however, churches may refuse to officiate the union.

Allows with restriction

• Cimera — remarriage is possible, but if the earlier marriage was dissolved by a court because one partner committed adultery, the adulterer is forbidden from marrying his/her lover.
•  Mari'im — in theory, people may re-marry without restriction. In practice, however, the community will only accept an unconditional re-marriage if the earlier marriage ended involuntarily (such as through the death of one partner). If it ended through divorce, re-marriage will only be accepted if it is generally agreed that there was no major fault on the part of person wanting re-marriage. ("Fault" is generally interpreted to be something such as cruelty or abuse — things such as adultery, while frowned on, are considered a forgiveable failing).
• Shaelia — remarriage is possible. Civilly, there are generally no restrictions; religiously, particularly in the Shaelic Cruisian Church, it is much more difficult, but not impossible. If the cause of the previous marriage dissolution was adultery or physical abuse, the Church does not object. Other cases are handled on a case-by-case basis.
• St. Samuel — Divorce can only be granted by the church or mosque and this will only be granted in cases of abuse, adultery or death.
•  Xochimechatl — most entities with the power to conduct marriages will treat a second request for marriage differently than they would a first. Secular authorities and the Sky Temples would factor the information in to the interview and assessment that they require before marriage. Both the Sect of Temoa and the Church of San Alandro reject re-marriage altogether except in rare circumstances — the Temoans decide on a case-by-case basis, while the San Alandrans refuse to re-marry divorcees or people with children. Only the Inxichtlincuicatl cult has no restrictions on re-marriage.

Does not allow

• Allacoa — the official religious position in Allacoa is not to allow remarriages, and that divorce is not recognized by the Church. Other religions currently hold similiar positions. Provisions in the republic's constitution allow those wishing to remarry to petition the church through the state as their benefactor for an exemption. This exemption is often granted, but for a large fee.
• Lysonia — Does not recognize or allow re-marriages unless spouse is deceased. The Empire does recognize re-marriages from other countries.

Same-sex marriage

Most countries have traditionally held that marriage is between a man and a woman. In recent times, however, some countries have chosen to allow marriage between two men or between two women. Other countries have created another type of partnership, often called a civil union, which is intended to give same-sex couples equal rights while not actually being called marriage.

Allows

• Aethelnia — recognises same-sex marriage, having legalised it in 302 AP. The procedures and regulations for same-sex marriage are the same as for traditional marriage. Same-sex couples can adopt children, although only from within Aethelnia.
• Greater Burovian Realm — recognizes marriages without any gender restrictions.
• Cimera — marriage is a matter of the religious institutions of Cimera. The state church, the Church Cimera does not recognise homosexual marriages. On the other hand, legally-binding civil unions are a matter of the state and are contracted between two people, regardless of gender.
• Lamb's Cove — recognises same-sex marriage.
• Listonian Free State — recognizes same-sex marriage although many religious denominations do not perform them.
• Neoliliana — recognises same-sex marriage, although no major religious denomination is currently prepared to conduct marriage rights in the case of the latter. Same-sex couples enjoy the same legal benefits as others.
• Porto Capital — recognises same-sex marriage.
• Sempervirens — recognises same-sex marriage.
• Somery — recognises same-sex marriage, although doesn't allow such couples to adopt children.
• TDCorp — recognises same-sex marriage.
•  Trinia — recognises same-sex marriage in theory, although in practice the situation is complicated. Marriages are conducted by one of the eight temples to the Second Ones, with the state recognising "whatever marriages the temples saction". The law is unclear, however, as to whether the sanction of one temple is enough, or whether the collective sanction of all temples is needed. At present, three of the eight are willing to conduct same-sex marriage — the government chooses to recognise such marriages, but the decision is being challenged.
•  Xochimechatl — same-sex marriage can be said to exist in Xochimechatl. While most jurisdictions do not conduct same-sex marriages themselves, an informal understanding exists that they will accept marriages made by any of the nine religious sects. One sect which allows same-sex marriage is the Inxichtlincuicatl cult, which places very few restrictions on who it will marry. Women also have the option of going to one of the Sky Temples and forming a mequitachi, a traditional arrangement where widows or "unmarriable" women banded together to "make up for the fact that they don't have a husband to support them" — this arrangment, while not necessarily for lovers, is sometimes used as such, and conveys the same rights. The Temoan faith sometimes produces same-sex marriages as part of its system of arranged marriages, but will not marry people simply because they ask.

Does not allow

• Albion-Merité — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Allacoa — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Ansonia — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Bowdani — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Caledon — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Cruisana — does not recognise same-sex marriage, but does allow same-sex civil unions.
• Davenport — does not recognise same-sex marriage, but does allow same-sex civil unions, giving the same rights. Davenport was one of the first countries to pass laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
• Djeriga — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Estontetso — does not recognise same-sex marriage, accepts same-sex civil unions, albeit without conceding the rights associated with marriage.
• Feniz — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Fora Rifo — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Lysonia — Homosexuality is illegal in the Empire. Lysonia also does not recognizes unions of same-sex couples from other countries and considers them single and treated as such to the law.
•  Mari'im — does not recognise same-sex marriage by most definitions of the term. By tradition, women in a polygamous marriage (now rare) are described as "married" to each other as well as to their husband, but most regard this as nothing more than unusual terminology, not same-sex marriage as it is generally thought of.
• Ordland — does not recognise same-sex marriage, but extends same-sex partners the equal legal rights.
• Rovens — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Shaelia — does not recognise same-sex marriage. Same-sex partnerships from other countries are not recognized.
• Solelhada — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• St. Samuel — Does not recognise same-sex marriage.
• Svarthaedir — does not recognise same-sex marriage.
•        Ulanova — does not recognise same-sex marriage, following a definition of marriage derived from that of the Ulanovan Othodox Church.
• Utania — no state in Utania recognises same-sex marriage, and one state has made homosexual acts illegal.
• Zartania — as homosexuality is illegal in Zartania, there are obviously no marriage rights for homosexual couples.

Polygamy

Polygamy describes the state of being simultaneously married to more than one person. It has historically been found in a number of cultures across Vexillium, but in modern times, is relatively rare.

Allows

• Feniz — it is a tradition still legal for a man to have up to four wives. It is, however, vanishing in modern times.
• Greater Burovian Realm — polygamic marriages are permitted between up to four people, regardless of gender. In polygamic marriages all involved partners are considered each others' legal spouse.
•  Mari'im — polygamy has traditionally been legal in Mari'im, and although the present government disapproves of it, it is still legal. It is, however, very rare in modern times.
•  Xochimechatl — due to the automatic recognition of any marriage conducted by one of the country's nine religous sects, coupled with the fact that the Inxichtlincuicatl sect will marry almost anyone who asks for it, polygamous marriages can sometimes be found in Xochimechatl. They are extremely rare, however, especially outside the Inxichtlincuicatl cult itself.

Does not allow

• Aethelnia — not legal. Aethelnian legal system not set-up to deal with it. Polygamy is an alien concept, unknown to Aethelnian culture. Aethelnia does recognize polygamous marriages of foreigners, if legal in their native country. Should any Aethelnians wish to enter in a polygamous marriage, the government has signalled it's willingness to create legislation.
• Allacoa — illegal under present law, punishable by up to 12 years imprisonment. Polygamous marriages sanctioned in other nations are not recognized in Allacoa, but citizens from those nations are not subject to penalty so long as they do not perform the actual marriage ceremony in the republic.
• Cimera — expressly forbidden.
• Davenport — not legal, although polygamous partners can receive the same legal status in a civil union.
• Estontetso
• Fora Rifo — not legal, however, Fora Rifo does recognize polygamous marriages of foreigners, if legal in their respective country.
• Listonian Free State — To prevent fraud and deception and the legal issues which may arise from such cases, polygamous marriages are illegal.
• Neoliliana — not legal, although people already party to a polygamous marriage are allowed to keep it if they move to Neoliliana.
• Porto Capital — not legal,
• Lysonia — Considered Adultery under Lysonian law and can be punished up to 10 years if convicted. Does not recognize polygamy of citizens from another country.
• Rovens — not legal.
• Shaelia — not legal; is legally treated as sex trafficking.
• Somery — not legal.
• St. Samuel — Polygamy is illegal in Saint Samuel as marriage is considered a religous communion between one man and one women.
• Svarthaedir — not legal.
•  Trinia — not legal, although polygamous partners can claim the same legal rights as married couples.
•        Ulanova — not legal.
• Utania — not legal.
• Zartania — not legal. A law which allowed men to have up to three wives was revoked in 22 BP.

Divorce law

Allows without restriction

• Aethelnia — no special circumstances or permissions are required for divorce.
• Greater Burovian Realm — no special circumstances or permissions are required for a divorce. In polygamic marriages, individuals may be excluded from the marriage by the remaining spouses with unanimous consent, or the polygamic marriage may be dissolved completely, and remaining ex-spouses are free to re-marry.
• Listonian Free State — no special circumstances or permissions are required for a divorce.
• Porto Capital — no special circumstances or permissions are required for divorce.
• Somery — no special circumstances or permissions are required for divorce.
•  Trinia — no special circumstances or permissions are required for divorce.
•  Mari'im — no special circumstances or permissions are required for divorce.

Allows with restriction

• Allacoa — the state (goverment) allows for the attainment of a legal divorce. Religiously, a divorce is only granted by an official state petition, which is costly. There are, however, no provisions for a no-fault divorce in the republic, and grounds for divorce must be proven in family affairs courts before being granted.
• Cruisana — normally requires a formal hearing before granting divorce. Also grants divorce on the grounds of the mental impairment of one partner, or if one partner is sentenced to over a year in prison for a felony.
• Estontetso — divorce is granted on request but requires a court hearing in order to ensure maintenance of both partners.
• Feniz — divorce is granted on request but requires a formal hearing in order to ensure maintenance of both partners and to fix eventual obligations.
• Shaelia — requires a legal hearing and registered counseling before being granted. In cases of physical abuse or adultery, counseling provision is often waived. In cases of extended incarceration (10+ years), a divorce may be granted on grounds of abandonment.
• St. Samuel — Divorce can only be granted by the church or mosque and this will only be granted in cases of abuse, adultery or death.
• Svarthaedir — normally requires a formal hearing before granting divorce
• Utania — there are no provisions for no-fault divorce in Utania, with divorce only possible if one or both parners are shown to have acted improperly in the marriage. Different states have different divorce laws — in Lasanne it is relatively painless to obtain a divorce, in Nystonia it is difficult, and in Savana and Utani B'yan it is almost (although not quite) unheard of.
•  Xochimechatl — divorce generally requires some form of brief hearing to be conducted by whatever entity granted the original marriage. Usually, this is just a formality, and citing irreconcilable differences is generally enough for divorce to be granted. The Church of San Alandro, however, is known for a much stricter policy, requiring some form of fault on the part of one or both partners.

Does not allow

• Lysonia — No Divorces are legal in the Empire and any citizen who gets a divorce in another country, the divorce will not be recognizes as legal.