Oregon Legal Research BlogThe Multnomah County Library has a webpage with information on how to find vital records in Oregon. If you are seeking vital records stored locally, check with your own public library’s website or your local city, county, or court clerk offices.
Articles Tagged with marriage
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Free Online Pre-nuptial Agreement for Pets (Pet Nup) (UK law!)
From ABA Journal: UK lawyer creates online prenup for pets,” Jan 1, 2015, by L.J. Jackson:
“While many people treat pets like family members, courts take a different view. Pets are considered personal property, meaning Fido has the same status as a household appliance. So when a relationship sours, custody disputes involving pets can turn particularly contentious.
…. In an effort to avoid just this sort of problem, one U.K. family law attorney has created a prenuptial agreement for pet purchases. Pet Nup is a free download that covers ownership, responsibilities and rights in the event of a relationship breakdown, with the goal of keeping pet welfare at its heart….” [Link to ABA article.]
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Courthouse Romance? Oregon Judges Perform Weddings: Who, What, Where, and How (the Why is up to you)
Courthouses can be happy places on rare occasions and weddings can cheer up the otherwise gloomy edifices since wedding parties usually dress more colorfully than litigants (not to mention smile more) and that can brighten up almost everyone’s day (except of course for gloomy Gus in the bushes shouting “don’t do it!“)
For example, visit the Washington County Circuit Court Weddings website for information about getting married at their Courthouse.
Or, what about Clatsop County Courthouse?
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Now that it’s Legal: Same-sex Wedding, Marriage, and Divorce Law in Oregon
A Multnomah County Librarian has posted this practical and lighthearted collection of wedding, marriage, and divorce law links:
“Now that it’s legal: same-sex marriage and the law,” by Emily-Jane D., Jun 04, 2014
And maybe it’s also time to update my Engagement Ring Law blog post!
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Oregon Legal Separation Packet: Samples, Not Updated!!
Legal self-help is a bit of a crap-shoot unless you have official (i.e. court sanctioned and current) legal forms or the guiding hand of an attorney, but sometimes one has to plug along the best one can.
Public law librarians not infrequently get requests for legal separation forms. Oregon has, rather had, legal separation forms, and still, sort of, does have them. But, well, read on:
Disclaimer! Warning!
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Community Property Rights in Common Law Oregon – Update
Oregon is a common law property state, so what happens when you move here from a community property state and you want to preserve your community property rights?
If you are a community property couple and you move to Oregon, you need to be careful how you buy property, how you title it, how you finance it, how you dispose of it, etc., etc., etc.
The January 2008 issue of the OSB Estate Planning and Administration Section newsletter has an article on the subject, Preserving Community Property Rights in Oregon, by Kevin Tillson, Hunt & Associates, PC.
P.S. For non-attorneys – please don’t confuse common law property rights with common law marriage, another matter entirely. See the Oregon State Bar blurb:
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Oregon Prenuptial Agreements (Contracts)
Note: I use the term “temporary” marriage below instead of “short-term” marriage because the latter is how marriages of very short duration are described and labeled in some courts. (*See below for more on “short-term” marriage in Oregon.)
Whenever someone asks why we (Americans, I presume, or maybe Oregonians) don’t have temporary or “short-term” marriage (meaning of limited duration by choice, not a marriage that lasts for a short-term), I refrain from playing the wedding-wag and saying, “what do you think a prenup is all about?”
Prenuptial agreements are about a whole lot more than money and power and can be extremely valuable marriage contracts, but if not managed seriously by each party to the marriage, I suppose they could be viewed as a back-door route to temporary marriage (e.g. in Islamic law), which may be one among other reasons they can raise some people’s blood pressure.
If you are planning to marry and are curious about prenups (curiosity is a good thing), in addition to reading some of those terrifying books, websites, and magazines on weddings, I recommend you read Nolo Press, “Prenuptial Agreements: How to Write a Fair & Lasting Contract,” 3rd ed., by Katherine Stoner & Shae Irving, J.D.
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The Law of Engagement Rings (with a side of ring-flingers and Oregon cows)
Is the engagement ring yours, mine, ours, or theirs (e.g. creditors or charities)?
This post is for those who want or need to resolve the Engagement Ring Dispute by delving into the Law (mostly Oregon), which, given what I’ve unearthed, isn’t that far from simply asking oneself, “What would Miss Manners (or Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, or even George Mitchell) Do?”
Warning: Do not expect An Answer, at least not a simple one. But you may find your own answer in all of this (or at least another view of the “marriage catastrophe” a la Zorba).
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Oregon Same-Sex Couple: Right to Parental Status: Shineovich v. Kemp
Media Release (July 15, 2009) summarizing the case.
Oregon Court of Appeals case: Shineovich V. Kemp (A138013), filed July 15, 2009.
Excerpt: “In this action for declaratory relief, petitioner challenges the constitutionality of two statutes under which a married man is, by operation of law, deemed to be the legal parent of children born to his wife. Petitioner and respondent were in a same-sex relationship for 10 years, during which time respondent twice became pregnant by artificial insemination. After the parties separated, petitioner brought this action, seeking a declaration that she is a legal parent of the two children born to respondent. She asserted that ORS 109.070(1) (2003) and ORS 109.243(1) create a privilege–legal parenthood by operation of law–on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, in violation of Article I, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution. After the parties submitted their pleadings, the trial court dismissed petitioner’s claims for failure to state a claim for relief, and petitioner appeals. We conclude that ORS 109.070 (2003) does not violate Article I, section 20, but that ORS 109.243 does. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.” (read full case)
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How do I find out if someone in Oregon or Washington is married?
You might think this is an easy question to answer. But it’s not!
Oregon Vital Records needs to know in which county the license was issued. So, in Oregon, if you want to know if someone is married, you might need to check county by county.
It’s no better in Washington State. You would need to know the approximate date of marriage and the county in which it occurred. Otherwise, you have to search county by county.