Few researchers, to the knowledge of this author, have considered the implications of, and purpose for the Certificate of Marriage upon the estate. Like the Identification of Newborn, the Certificate of Live Birth, and the Birth Certificate, this document also has a specific roll to play as relates to the estate.
The marriage license and the Certificate of Marriage, like the Birth Certificate Deed, perform key and required estate record keeping and tracking tasks.
The Marriage license is generally the first of the two documents a couple receives to memorialize their union. There have been many who have explained that the license allows the presumption of an unlawful act being done. This is so, according to these researchers, because the legal definition of the word “license” is: 1. permission, usually revocable, to commit some act that would otherwise be unlawful 2. The certificate or document evidencing such permission. (Blacks Law, 8th Ed. @pg.938)
This particular view is also explained in Commentaries on American Law where it states, “a license is an authority to do a particular act or series of acts, upon another’s land, without possessing any estate therein. It is founded on personal confidence and is not assignable, nor within the statute of frauds.” (Blacks Law, 8th Ed. @pg.452-453)
Given these defining explanations, it is reasonable to presume the license is, much like the researchers have suggested, meant to indemnify against the unlawful act. However, the majority of the researchers have suggested the unlawful act is the marriage itself and relate this to the ban against interracial unions.
This writer does not believe the researchers were too far off the mark, though it is believed the unlawful act is not at all attributed to the man and woman getting married or interracial unions as some suggest, but apply to the act done by public agents themselves.
This is so because the estates of many are and remains in trust. Given this, the estate assets cannot be diminished by the trustee in any respect, and the actions of the trustee is dictated by the prudent man rule, which was changed to the prudent investor rule by Restatement (Third) of Trusts.
The prudent-investor rule. stands for the principle that a fiduciary must invest in only those securities or portfolios of securities that a reasonable person would buy. The origin of the prudent-investor rule is Harvard College v. Amory, 26 Mass. 446 (1830). This case stressed two points for a trustee to consider when making investments: probable income and probable safety. The trustee must consider both when making investments. Originally termed the prudent-man rule, the Restatement (Third) of Trusts changed the term to prudent-investor rule. – Also termed prudent-person rule. (Black’s Law, 8th Ed. at 1263)
Since the trustee cannot effect or allow the diminishment of the estate held in trust, and as the marital union causes the estate of the woman to be absorbed by the estate of the man to create one large familial estate, which has the effect of diminishing the estate of the woman by transferring this personal estate to the estate of the husband for his control, the license is required to indemnify the trustee from allowing the estate to be so effected. From this perspective, it is strongly supported that the unlawful act being permitted is by the trustee themselves. This is further supported by the continued acknowledgement, by pubic agents, of the “common law marriage” which is made without any such license.
Similar to the Birth Certificate, the marriage certificate is recorded with the Recorder of Deeds; and like the Birth Certificate, this lends strong weight to the fact this is a form of deed. Given the nature of the marital union, and the fact that historically the woman brought a dowry to the marital union, it is the most likely the marriage certificate is a gratuitous deed (Black’s Law, 9th Ed. at 476) though this may be a combination of a gratuitous deed and a deed absolute. (Compare deed of separation and deed of settlement, Black’s Law, 8th Ed. at pg. 445.)
Also similar to the Birth Certificate, the design of the Marriage Certificate is one which contains the various evidence of heraldry on its face. Some of which are the intricate border, seals, use of two contrasting heraldic colors (often blue and white or green and white), and in conformance with the Law of Deeds the Marriage Certificate is witnessed by no less than two (2) witnesses.
However, this deed varies slightly from the Birth Certificate Deed or the Death Certificate Deed of Defeasance in that the Marriage Certificate Deed regards only the personal estates of the man and woman named on the deed, as opposed to the names of the parents which relate back to the ancestral estates. When the application for a marriage license is reviewed, one finds the association to the personal estates, and the location where each party was born. This provides the location where the trust may be found, which is formed in the county of one’s birth. Unique to the Marriage Certificate Deed is the relation back to the application data. This reference appears on many Marriage License documents.
As the Marriage License and Marriage Certificate are linked by reference, to fully comprehend what each document does, and how each document effects the estate of both the man and the woman, a closer look needs to be taken.
The Marriage License
As already stated, this document is used and intended to authorize what would otherwise be unlawful. Though some researchers have claimed that the marriage is the unlawful act without much more explanation, when it is considered that marriage is a natural right, it should become clear that the marriage can not be the unlawful act.
What, then, would be the “unlawful act” being ratified? When we consider that it is unlawful for the Trustee to remove any asset from the estate, or effect the estate in any manner, and we recognize that the marriage is a merger of the estate of the woman with the estate of the man, which by the law of deeds subsumes the estate of the woman into that of the man, what would otherwise be unlawful for the Trustee to do is authorized by the execution of the Marriage License, and is evidenced by the Marriage Certificate. Some States, like California, have redesigned their forms to create a single form for both the Marriage License and the Certificate of Marriage.
The Marriage License asks for the name and birth place of both the man and the woman. As explained, this is most likely a reference to where the personal estates of the woman and man are located.
Some marriage licenses have had the social security number added to the form, which is a direct link to the estate, as to obtain the social security number one typically must produce their birth certificate, which we know from the musings on the Birth Certificate this is a grant deed. Therefore, the use of the social security number here is a clear relation back to the grant deed and the estate.
Also appearing on the document is a reference to “Last name at time of birth (If Different..)” which is another indication that the document relates back to the original grant deed placed in trust with the public trustees. If this document were simply a record of Mary marrying John, what does it matter what either of their names were at the time of birth? Unless it is intended to be used to relate the information back to the estate and the original grant deed.
An interesting bit of information also requested on the Marriage License in some States is the “occupation” of the woman and man. As many similar oddities are typically overlooked, it is important to focus on this element for a moment. This is so because the request for “occupation” data is a clear indicator that the document se es an ancient purpose, and is associated with the estate of the man and woman.
In ancient times, a man and woman of different caste typically were forbidden by the parents to wed. Even in the modern times of today, we hear about “social circles” and that someone “reached beyond their station.” These are all polite ways of referring to one’s caste. (a division of society based on differences of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation, or race.)
The reference to “occupation” is another polite reference, the maxim of law: En eschange il covient que les estates soient egales, or translated: In an exchange it is desirable that the estates be equal. (Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th Edition, at 1829)
The Marriage Certificate
With the above in mind, and looking at the Marriage Certificate, we notice several similarities between this document and the other estate documents. First, the document is filed with the Recorder of Deeds. As this document is filed with this particular office, it should be clear to even the most sinical mind that the marriage Certificate is a deed, otherwise it would not be recorded with such an office.
The use of the term “certificate” on the document also tells us, similar to the Birth Certificate, that the document is effecting some right or property. As it is presumed that the estate is still held in trust, the marriage certificate, like the birth certificate, is a trust document informing the man and woman that the estate is merged in trust and safely held.
The presumption that the estate is still held in trust is founded on the presence of the marriage license. Such a presumption is made because if the estates were not held in trust, we would not be going to the public trustee for the marriage license, hence the marriage certificate would not be necessary. As a self governing man and woman would manage their own affairs in a different and lawful manner without the need for involving the public trustee, this certificate is prima facie evidence of the trust, and prima facie evidence the trustees are acting according to law.
There are additional elements or artifacts on the document which bear recognition, and these items and artifacts will be discussed in another post..