48 U.S.C. § 736: Puerto Rican law modified

Summary

Cancels the rule that was in force on April 11, 1899, which had stopped priests, ministers, or religious followers from marrying because of vows. The March 17, 1899 order of the Secretary of Justice, issued by Major General Guy V. Henry, United States Volunteers, that kept that rule in place is also annulled. People lawfully married in Puerto Rico must have the same legal rights whether their marriage was civil or religious. Changes parts of the divorce rules (paragraph 1, article 105, section 4 of the civil code and paragraph 2, section 19 of the March 17, 1899 order) so that adultery by either the husband or the wife is a ground for divorce.

Title 48, §736

Territories and Insular Possessions, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

So much of the law which was in force at the time of cession, April 11th, 1899, forbidding the marriage of priests, ministers, or followers of any faith because of vows they may have taken, being paragraph 4, article 83, chapter 3, civil code, and which was continued by the order of the secretary of justice of Puerto Rico, dated March 17, 1899, and promulgated by Major General Guy V. Henry, United States Volunteers, is repealed and annulled, and all persons lawfully married in Puerto Rico shall have all the rights and remedies conferred by law upon parties to either civil or religious marriages. Paragraph 1, article 105, section 4, divorce, civil code, and paragraph 2, section 19, of the order of the minister of justice of Puerto Rico, dated March 17, 1899, and promulgated by Major General Guy V. Henry, United States Volunteers, are so amended as to read: “Adultery on the part of either the husband or the wife.”

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was not enacted as part of the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“Puerto Rico” substituted in text for “Porto Rico” pursuant to act May 17, 1932, which is classified to section 731a of this title.

§736 Puerto Rican Law Modified