Q: If someone marries their step dad after their mother has passed away, is that illegal in the state of Maryland?
Joseph H. repeatedly talked about their getting married when she turned 19 years old. Joseph and Alexandra set the wedding date on her 19th birthday and began planning their wedding. Alexandra booked a caterer, rented a wedding hall, and hired a DJ for the wedding reception. The bills were piling up, but Alexandra had a full-time job and was using all the money she could scrape together to pay for the wedding.
Two months before the wedding, Alexandra discovered she was pregnant. When she shared the news with her fiancé, Joseph, he accused of her cheating on him and cancelled the wedding. Alexandra was devastated and worried about raising a child alone.
She went to her stepfather, Derrick, for solace. Her stepfather offered to marry her and raise the child as his own. There was plenty of time to get a new marriage license and keep the original wedding date. Alexandra agreed; she and Carlson were married in Maryland on her 19th birthday.
A: This reads like a law school exam question. Unless the stepfather legally adopted her, I am aware of no prohibition in Maryland preventing marriage between consenting adults, regardless of the prior marriage of the stepfather to the mother of the bride. But I would still want to review the Family Law Article on the subject to be absolutely certain.
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