Under Minnesota Statute 517.01, Minnesota marriages are a civil contract.

So what does that mean and why is it important?

In lawyman’s terms, a marriage is a contractual relationship between a man and a woman where the couple makes certain promises to one another and, in turn, those promises are recognized by the State of Minnesota as legally binding.

Here is the exact language of the statute:

Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between a man and a woman, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential. Lawful marriage may be contracted only between persons of the opposite sex and only when a license has been obtained as provided by law and when the marriage is contracted in the presence of two witnesses and solemnized by one authorized, or whom one or both of the parties in good faith believe to be authorized, so to do. Marriages subsequent to April 26, 1941, not so contracted shall be null and void.

Minn. Stat. 517.01.

Why is this important?  Because Minnesota must be able to recognize the validity of marriages and, once a marriage is consummated, enforce the legal rights and ramifications of those marriages.

The validity of a marriage has an affect on things many things; including: child support, custody, visitation, parenting time, health insurance coverage,

Health Insurance for Married Couples in Minnesota

Minnesota employer often have health insurance programs that their employees can purchase.  Those employees often are married and have families that may also be covered by the plan.   Many married couples and their children rely on such coverage.

For instance, my wife currently covers my son and I on her health insurance at work.  We pay for the health insurance and her employer agrees to cover family members as defined by Minnesota law.  As a person of the opposite sex (a male), I get health insurance from my wife (a female).

What happens if a couple of the opposite sex get married?  In Minnesota, the same-sex couple wouldn’t qualify for health insurance coverage from employers.

I wrote about this situation recently where a transgender woman in Minnesota was denied health care coverage from her husband’s employer.   The employer thought the marriage was invalid and denied coverage.  The company had their lawyer look at the law and the lawyer determined that the marriage was invalid.

A federal district court disagreed and held that the marriage was valid and, therefore, the employer did have to cover the transgender woman’s health care costs.   The court opinion can be found at Radke v. Misc. Drivers & Helpers Union Local #638 Health, Welfare, Eye &  Dental  Fund.

Although the case may be appealed, the point of this article was to show that the definition of marriage as a “civil contract” is very important for many reasons.  I only touched on the potential ramifications of marriage as it applies to same-sex or transgender couples; however, there are many areas of the law that are affected by the validity of a marriage.

As you can see, defining marriages as “civil contracts” has far reaching effects on many areas that touch everyday people’s lives.  Many people don’t consider the ramifications of their marriage and what it means in terms of their future rights and responsibilities.

I’ll touch on many more topics on this blog about marriages and the rights related thereto.  The point of this post is to get the conversation started on the meaning of marriages in Minnesota, Dakota County, and elsewhere.  From there, I’ll continue to discuss the law as it relates to family’s throughout Minnesota.

 

-This post was written by Joseph M. Flanders, an Apple Valley MN lawyer.