Title 551, MARRIAGE

Sec. 17. The preceding provisions of this chapter, so far as they relate to the manner of solemnizing marriages, shall not affect marriages among the people called Friends or Quakers; nor marriages among people of any other particular denomination, having, as such, any peculiar m…

Sec. 18. The original certificates and records of marriage made by the person solemnizing the marriage as prescribed in this chapter, and the record thereof made by the county clerk, or a copy of such record duly certified by such clerk, shall be received in all courts and places…

Sec. 2. So far as its validity in law is concerned, marriage is a civil contract between a man and a woman, to which the consent of parties capable in law of contracting is essential. Consent alone is not enough to effectuate a legal marriage on and after January 1, 1957. Consent…

Sec. 3. A man shall not marry his mother, sister, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, stepmother, grandfather's wife, son's wife, grandson's wife, wife's mother, wife's grandmother, wife's daughter, wife's granddaughter, brother's daughter, sister's daughter, father's sister, m…

Sec. 4. A woman shall not marry her father, brother, grandfather, son, grandson, stepfather, grandmother's husband, daughter's husband, granddaughter's husband, husband's father, husband's grandfather, husband's son, husband's grandson, brother's son, sister's son, father's broth…

Sec. 5. No marriage shall be contracted whilst either of the parties has a former wife or husband living, unless the marriage with such former wife or husband, shall have been dissolved.

Sec. 7. (1) Marriages may be solemnized by any of the following: (a) A judge of the district court, anywhere in this state. (b) A district court magistrate, anywhere in this state. (c) A municipal judge, in the city in which the judge is serving or in a township over which a muni…

Sec. 9. In the solemnization of marriage, no particular form shall be required, except that the parties shall solemnly declare, in the presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and the attending witnesses, that they take each other as husband and wife; and in every case, th…

Sec. 1. It shall be necessary for all parties intending to be married to obtain a marriage license from the county clerk of the county in which either the man or woman resides, and to deliver the said license to the clergyman or magistrate who is to officiate, before the marriage…

Sec. 2. (1) Blank forms for a marriage license and certificate shall be prepared and furnished by the state registrar appointed by the director of the department of community health to each county clerk of this state in the quantity needed. The blank form for a license and certif…

Sec. 3. (1) An individual who is 18 years of age or older may contract marriage. As proof of age, the individual who intends to be married, in addition to the statement of age in the application, when requested by the county clerk, must submit a birth certificate or other proof o…

Sec. 3a. A marriage license shall not be delivered within a period of 3 days including the date of application. However, the county clerk of each county, for good and sufficient cause shown, may deliver the license immediately following the application. If the county clerk delive…

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the clergyman or magistrate, officiating at a marriage, to fill in the spaces of the certificate left blank for the entry of the time and place of the marriage, the names and residences of 2 witnesses, and his own signature in certification that th…

Sec. 5. Any county clerk who shall refuse to give a license to persons properly applying and legally entitled to be married, or who shall violate any of the provisions of this act, shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than 25 doll…

Sec. 6. Any clergyman or magistrate who shall join together in marriage parties who have not delivered to him a properly issued license, as provided for in this act, or who shall violate any of the provisions of this act, shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be pu…

Sec. 7. Any person, whose duty it shall be to return a marriage certificate to the county clerk, who shall neglect to return said certificate, shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding 100 dollars or 90 days' imprisonment, or both…

Sec. 8. Any person applying for a marriage license who shall swear to a false statement therein, shall be guilty of perjury, and shall be prosecuted therefor under the general laws of the state.

Sec. 9. The reports of marriage sent by the county clerks of the counties of the state to the department of public health shall be preserved on file in that department, and a proper record shall be made and kept.

Sec. 10. The record of any license to marry, or of any marriage certificate, in any county clerk's office, or a certified copy thereof, shall be prima facie evidence in any court or proceedings in this state, with the same force and effect as if the original were produced, both a…

Sec. 11. Whenever it is alleged that the facts are not correctly stated in any certificate or license of marriage heretofore registered in this state, the county clerk of the county in which the certificate or license of marriage has been recorded shall require such evidence to b…

Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "circuit court family counseling services act".

Sec. 2. (1) For the purpose of preserving and improving family life through competent family counseling, family counseling services which shall include domestic violence and child abuse, are created as provided in this section. In each judicial circuit, the circuit court may esta…

Sec. 3. The circuit court family counseling service is an arm of the circuit court. It may be merged with other court services or maintained separately, as the court determines. The circuit court may enter into contracts with the state or private agencies for all or part of the f…

Sec. 4. The chief executive officer of the circuit court family counseling service is the director. The director shall be qualified by training and experience to render family counseling service and shall be employed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the circuit court. The compen…

Sec. 5. The director of a circuit court family counseling service may hire professional and clerical staff with the approval of the circuit court.

Sec. 6. The circuit court shall prescribe rules and standards of eligibility for counseling. First priority for service shall be given to domestic relations actions in which a complaint or motion has been filed in the circuit court. A family is eligible for counseling by the fami…

Sec. 7. The director of a circuit court family counseling service shall advise spouses fully of the existence of qualified family counseling services outside the court so that they may freely make an informed choice of the outside service. In order to assure maximum use of commun…

Sec. 8. Upon specific referral from the court or at the request and agreement of the litigants, the family counseling service may be instructed to serve as an impartial, unbiased resource in evaluating problems involving custody of minor children, parenting time of minor children…

Sec. 9. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a communication between a counselor in the family counseling service and a person who is counseled is confidential. The secrecy of the communication shall be preserved inviolate as a privileged communication which privilege cannot…

Sec. 10. The family counseling service may charge fees for its counseling in accordance with a fee schedule prescribed by the circuit court with the advice and consent of the county board of commissioners. The county board of commissioners may designate a committee of its members…

Sec. 11. The family counseling service may engage in research, educational efforts, public information service, or other endeavors related to the purpose and policy of this act as approved by the circuit court.

Sec. 12. This act shall not change or affect grounds for divorce, separation, or other statutory provisions relating to domestic relations actions. Conferences or interviews with family counselors or a person or agency to whom parties may be referred shall not be considered as co…

Sec. 13. In a multiple-judge circuit any act, decision or recommendation by the circuit court, provided for by this act, shall be deemed accomplished by a vote of a majority of the judges of the circuit.

Sec. 14. This act shall not be construed to require a person who objects to family counseling to submit to family counseling.

Sec. 1. (1) For a marriage entered into in this state before the effective date of the amendatory act that added subsection (2), the legal marriage of a minor releases that minor from parental control. The husband or wife of a minor, so released, is entitled to the same rights, b…

Sec. 1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, a marriage contracted between a man and a woman who are residents of this state and who were, at the time of the marriage, legally competent to contract marriage according to the laws of this state, which marriage is solemnize…

Sec. 2. This state recognizes marriage as inherently a unique relationship between a man and a woman, as prescribed by section 1 of chapter 83 of the Revised Statutes of 1846, being section 551.1 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and therefore a marriage that is not between a man an…

Sec. 1. (1) When an individual desires to keep the exact date of his or her marriage to an individual of the opposite sex a secret, the probate judge may issue, without publicity, a marriage license to any individual making application, under oath, if there is good reason express…

Sec. 2. Each application made under this act for a marriage license shall be in the usual form and shall be accompanied by a fee of $3.00, $2.00 of which the judge of probate shall keep for services rendered, and $1.00 of which the judge of probate shall forward to the state regi…

Sec. 3. (1) The judge of probate shall file a complete set of all papers in each case in a private file, and, within 10 days after the marriage, shall forward a duplicate to the state registrar. The state registrar shall file the duplicate in a private file and record the filing …

Sec. 4. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all knowledge of facts that come to the judge of probate, state registrar or an agent or employee of the state registrar, the physician endorsing the application, or a witness to the marriage under the license issued under this ac…

Sec. 1. (1) A marriage in this state shall not be contracted by an individual who is under 18 years of age. A marriage, if entered into in this state by an individual under 18 years of age, is void. (2) This section applies to a marriage entered into on or after the effective dat…