LIVINGSTON, Minn.
(AP) — Loving marriage repeat: When the first marriage ends, it can be hard to get a new one.
That’s where marriage records come in.
“We know there’s a lot of couples that are having difficulty because of the laws that are out there and the challenges that they’re having,” said Mark Goudge, an attorney at the Minnesota Marriage Records Association.
Goudge is part of a group that has sued the Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services to get marriage records of people who have married, but can’t get a birth certificate to prove their marriage.
Goutes lawsuit seeks to overturn a 2011 law that required a judge to issue a marriage certificate to any person who got married before that date.
The law requires the marriage record be submitted within 14 days.
“This is the first step to getting married,” said attorney Paul E. DeMarco, who is representing the Minnesota marriage records association.
Gudges lawsuit claims the Minnesota statute is unconstitutional because it creates a presumption that marriages that end before the date of a judge’s issuance of a marriage license will be invalid.
The state is not enforcing its own law that prohibits the issuance of marriage licenses until a judge issues a marriage decree, the lawsuit says.
The state of Minnesota has not said whether it plans to appeal the lawsuit.
