Historically, the law did not involve itself too much in the regulation of marriage. An individual was free to ‘marry’ merely by the exchange of vows, or by the act of sexual intercourse with their partner. This lack of legal regulation led to the term ‘common law wife’, which is still in use today, although having little, if any, legality or rights attached to it. The law did, however, start to become involved in marriage in the 18th century, and now legislation provides the rules surrounding the process of marriage. In this chapter you will be looking at the formalities of the marriage process and the potential.
