## Facts

- Linda B. Nelson and Samuel “Sam” Marshall had a long-term relationship and cohabited beginning in late 1991.
- While hospitalized on February 12, 1992, Sam expressed a desire to marry Nelson.
- The hospital chaplain, Reverend Jensen, contacted local officials and learned that a marriage license required (among other steps) a signed application and, absent a waiver, a statutory waiting period.
- Because February 12 was a legal holiday and time-sensitive, Jensen performed a marriage ceremony in Sam’s hospital room that day without any marriage license having been issued.
- After the ceremony, both Nelson and Sam believed they were married.
- The next day, Jensen informed Nelson that the parties still needed to sign paperwork required for a marriage license; Sam’s condition worsened and he died on February 13, 1992.
- No signed application was completed and no marriage license was ever issued.
- Nelson sought appointment as personal representative of Sam’s estate as his widow; Sam’s siblings contested the existence of a valid marriage.
- Nelson filed a circuit court action seeking a declaration that a valid marriage existed.

## Issues

1. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 451.040 (1986), can a Missouri ceremonial marriage be recognized as valid when no marriage license was obtained before the ceremony and no license was ever issued?

## Decision

- The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s declaratory judgment.
- The court held no valid marriage existed because § 451.040 requires that a marriage license be obtained before the marriage and provides that a marriage is not recognized as valid unless the license was previously obtained.
- The parties’ good-faith belief and the practical difficulties caused by the holiday and Sam’s rapid decline did not create an exception to the statute’s licensing prerequisite.

## Legal Principles

- When a statute governing marriage uses mandatory language and expressly conditions validity on compliance, courts enforce the condition as written.
- Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 451.040 (1986), a marriage in Missouri is not recognized as valid unless a marriage license is obtained before the ceremony.
- A ceremonial exchange of vows, without prior licensure and completion of required licensing steps, does not create a legally valid marriage in Missouri.
- Equitable considerations and subjective intent cannot override explicit statutory conditions for recognition of marital status.

## Conclusion

Because no marriage license was obtained before the hospital ceremony and no license was ever issued, Missouri law did not recognize Nelson and Marshall as legally married, and Nelson was not entitled to widow status for estate administration purposes.


Nelson v. Marshall, 869 S.W.2d 132 (Mo. Ct. App. W.D. 1993)