Q: Can two first cousins marry in Michigan?
I have a case where 2 first cousins faked a wedding, represented themselves as husband and wife, this also included to CPS and the family court in Michigan. Years later they obtained a marriage license from Virginia and now are promoting that no laws were violated since they did not legally marry each other in the past and now have a marriage license from another state which the State of MI will honor... obviously a complex issue. First faking a wedding and benefiting from presenting your status as husband and wife to the family court system seems risky; there are consented orders between the ex's where one party was not aware that the wedding was faked; (there are children involved) and it seems that the State of MI did not intend for the law to be gamed by running to another state for a quick weekend wedding and then assuming the State of MI will simply honor this arrangement. (They would normally however in this situation the marriage {incest} is against the law if done in MI)
A:
Not sure what you're looking for. Marriage is a civil matter; if the marriage is invalid under Michigan law - which you are right, marriage between first cousins would be - then it would be voidable, not illegal in the criminal sense. And generally, Michigan will recognize a marriage made in another state. Last, incest is illegal only due to age or mental capacity. There are no facts presented to suggest that that's the case here.
I'm not sure how one would go about proving a marriage was faked. If they satisfied Virginia laws for a marriage certificate, than what was faked?
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