## Facts

- The parties exchanged marital vows on August 25, 1955, before a Roman Catholic priest in a church rectory, but did not obtain a marriage license.
- They cohabited as husband and wife for decades and raised four children; the children’s birth certificates listed the defendant as the father.
- The defendant did not deny the marriage until the plaintiff filed an action seeking dissolution.
- In the dissolution action, the defendant asserted that the lack of a license meant no valid marriage existed.
- The trial court dismissed the dissolution action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, concluding the parties had never been legally married.

## Issues

1. Whether, under Connecticut law, a marriage is void when the parties undergo a proper religious solemnization but fail to obtain a statutory marriage license.
2. Whether the absence of a marriage license deprives the trial court of subject-matter jurisdiction over a dissolution action.

## Decision

- The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the dismissal and remanded.
- The court held that a properly solemnized marriage entered into without a marriage license is not void under Connecticut law.
- The court concluded that the licensing defect makes the marriage dissoluble rather than nonexistent, so the trial court had subject-matter jurisdiction over the dissolution action.

## Legal Principles

- The legislature controls the conditions for creation and termination of marital status, and statutory text governs whether noncompliance invalidates a marriage.
- When a statutory formality provides penalties for noncompliance but does not state that the marriage is void, the requirement is generally treated as directory as to marital validity.
- Legislative intent may be inferred from contrast between statutes: explicit voiding language in one marriage-related statute and its absence in the licensing statute indicates the legislature did not intend nonlicensure to void the marriage.
- Public policy strongly favors recognition of marriages entered in good faith and followed by long-term cohabitation and family formation.
- A marriage that is not void supports subject-matter jurisdiction for dissolution proceedings.

## Conclusion

A marriage solemnized in a proper ceremony is not void solely because the parties failed to obtain a marriage license; it remains a legally recognized marriage subject to dissolution, and courts retain jurisdiction to dissolve it.


Carabetta v. Carabetta, 182 Conn. 344, 438 A.2d 109 (Conn. 1980)