Statutes of the Pit River Tribe of California
Updated: 2005
Title
8. Family/Children's Code
Chapter 3. Marriage
Title 8. Family/Children's Code, Chapter 3. Marriage
Article I - General Provisions
Article II - Requirements
Article III - Marriage License
Article IV - Marriage Ceremony
Article V - Recognizing Marriages
Article VI - Miscellaneous
[Resolution]
SECTION 101. AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE
The purpose of this Ordinance is to grant to the Tribal Court the authority to perform marriages.
SECTION 102. JURISDICTION
Under this title, marriage licenses may be issued and marriage ceremonies performed where at least one party is an Indian and at least one party has been a bona fide resident within the boundaries of the Pit River Tribe for a period of ninety (90) days immediately preceding the application for a license.
SECTION 103. DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Ordinance, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Common Law Marriage" shall mean a relationship between two consenting adults that is recognized in the Pit River Tribe as a family.
(2) "Court Clerk" or "Clerk" shall mean the Clerk of the Tribal Court.
(3) "Judge" or "Tribal Judge" shall mean any Judge of the Tribal Court.
(4) "Premarital Agreement" shall mean an agreement between fiancés about property ownership made so as to take effect upon marriage.
(5) "Tribal Court" or "Court" shall mean the Tribal Court of the Pit River Tribe of California.
(6) "Tribe" shall mean the Pit River Tribe of California.
SECTION 201. CAPACITY TO CONSENT
Any single person, 18 years of age who is an enrolled Tribal Member, a resident within the exterior boundaries of the Pit River Tribe, or who consents to the jurisdiction of the Tribal Court may consent to and consummate a marriage.
SECTION 202. REQUIREMENTS
(A) For a man and a woman to be married under this chapter each must,
(1) Be as least eighteen years of age;
(2) Freely consent to the marriage; and
(3) If under eighteen years of age, obtain the consent of their custodial parents or legal guardians, if any.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Court in its discretion may issue a license where one or both of the parties is sixteen or seventeen years of age where the parent or legal guardian cannot be located after reasonable efforts have been made to do so, or where the Court finds after a hearing that consent has been unreasonably withheld and the court finds that the parties are capable of assuming the responsibilities of marriage and that marriage would be in the parties' best interests.
(C) Persons under eighteen (18) years of age but who have attained the age of sixteen (16) years and have been validly joined in marriage shall be deemed emancipated.
SECTION 203. VOID MARRIAGES
(A) Two persons shall not be married under this chapter who are related by blood to each other in any of the following degrees:
(1) Parent and child;
(2) Grandparent and grandchild;
(3) Brother and sister, or half-brother and half-sister;
(4) Aunt and nephew, or uncle and niece, whether the relationship is by half or whole blood;
(5) Cousins in the first degree.
(B) Marriages entered into prior to the dissolution of an earlier marriage of one or more of the parties shall be void ab initio.
(C) Any attempted marriage between persons so related shall be null and void from the time of the marriage forward, except that children of the marriage shall be considered legitimate, and except as one or both parties may qualify as a putative spouse under Section 206.
SECTION 204. VOIDABLE MARRIAGES
The following marriages may within the discretion of the court be declared void upon satisfactory proof:
(A) When either party to the marriage is incapable of consenting thereto.
(B) When consent to the marriage was obtained by force or fraud.
(C) When the party making application was of unsound mind at the time of making the application or entering into the marriage.
(D) When either party was at the time of the marriage incapable of consummating the marriage and the marriage has not been consummated.
SECTION 205. MARRIAGE OF PERSON HAVING EXISTING SPOUSE
A person having an existing spouse shall not be married to another under this Title. A person having an existing spouse is one who has been married under this Title, or under the laws of another tribe, state, or foreign nation, and whose marriage has not been terminated by:
(A) A divorce or annulment recognized as valid by the tribe, state, or foreign nation which granted it, and which complies with due process of law;
(B) The death of the spouse; or
(C) The absence and believed death of the spouse for five years or more. Any attempted marriage between persons so related shall be null and void from the time of the marriage forward, except that children of the marriage shall be considered legitimate, and except as one of or both parties may qualify as a putative spouse under Section 206.
SECTION 206. PUTATIVE SPOUSE
(A) Any person who has cohabited with another to whom he or she is not legally married in the good faith belief that he or she was legally married to that person is a putative spouse until knowledge of the fact that he or she is not legally married terminates the putative marital status and prevents acquisition of further rights.
(B) A putative spouse acquires the rights conferred upon a legal spouse, including the right to maintenance, following termination of the putative marital status.
(C) If there is a legal spouse or other putative spouse, rights acquired by a putative spouse do not supersede the rights of the legal spouse or rights acquired by other putative spouses, but the Court shall apportion property, maintenance, and support rights among the claimants as appropriate in the circumstances and in the interests of justice.
SECTION 301. MARRIAGE LICENSE REQUIRED
(A) A man and a woman may be joined in marriage within the exterior boundaries of the Pit River Tribe provided that:
(1) At least one of the applicants is a member of the Pit River Tribe or the persons have been certified by Tribal Council Resolution as being eligible to be married by the Tribe;
(2) The marriage ceremony is performed within the exterior boundaries of the Pit River Tribe;
(3) Both applicants have attained the age of 18 years;
(4) Both applicants have complied with the license requirements of this Ordinance.
(B) All marriage licenses for tribal members shall be issued by the tribal court upon completion of an application for marriage license and filing the same with the Clerk of the Court.
(C) A fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) shall be paid to the Clerk of the Court upon the filing of the application and no further charge shall be made for the issuance of the license by the Court.
SECTION 302. MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATION
(A) All persons wishing to be married by the Judge shall obtain a license from the Clerk. The license shall contain the following information for each person:
(1) Full legal name;
(2) Place of residence;
(3) Age,
(4) Sex,
(5) Tribal affiliation (if any);
(6) Date of birth;
(7) Name and address of the parents or guardian of each party
(8) Whether the parties are related to each other and, if so, the degree of their relationship;
(9) Whether previously married, and if so, how marriage ended (i.e., name, date, place and court in which the marriage was dissolved or declared invalid or the date and place of death of the former spouse).
(10) Name and date of birth of any child, of whom both parties are parents, born prior to the making of the application unless their parental rights and the parent and child relationship with respect to the child have been terminated.
(11) A copy of a certified birth certificate of each applicant.
(B) No license may be issued unless both parties are capable of consenting to and consummating the marriage as provided herein.
(C) Where necessary, the judge may require the testimony or affidavit of any person necessary to substantiate such information. Where the parties are underage and do not have the required consents they must, at an oral hearing, make the showing set forth in Section 202.
(D) The application shall be dated, signed and sworn to, or affirmed by, each applicant. In the event that the applicants make application separately, the last dated application shall be deemed the date of application. The court shall give one copy of the marriage license to the applicants and shall retain one copy for its records.
(E) Any person who intentionally provides false information may be subject to the full penalties provided by Tribal law.
(F) No marriage license shall be issued until each applicant has provided a statement signed by a licensed physician or medical officer that the applicant has submitted to a standard laboratory blood test and to an HIV-related test, provided that the standard laboratory blood test shall be the same test required by the law of the State of California for marriage licenses.
(G) If the judge is satisfied that the above requirements are met, the judge shall issue a marriage license to the applicants. The Clerk shall combine the license and certificate into one form and file it with the County Recorder of the County of residency of the spouses within ten (10) days of the ceremony.
SECTION 303. EXPIRATION OF LICENSE
(A) The marriage license shall not be valid for 24 hours after it has been issued and expires 90 days after it is issued. The day and time of issuance and the date of expiration shall be clearly noted on the face of the license.
(B) The marriage license shall be in substantially the following form:
PIT RIVER MARRIAGE LICENSE
To any person authorized to perform the marriage ceremony:You are hereby authorized to join in marriage __________________________________
of ___________________ and _____________________ of __________________ within 90 days of the date below.Dated this ________ day of _______________, 20________.
_____________________________________
PIT RIVER TRIBAL COURT JUDGE
SECTION 401. CONSENT/CEREMONY
Marriage is a consensual relationship that becomes a civil contract if entered into by two people capable of making the contract. Consent alone does not constitute a marriage. A conventional marriage relies upon the issuance of a license, a ceremony and the issuance of a marriage certificate as authorized by this Ordinance.
SECTION 402. MARRIAGE CEREMONY
The ceremony need not take any particular form, but the fiancee's must declare, in the presence of the Judge performing the ceremony, that they receive each other as husband and wife. Prior to the ceremony, the Judge shall obtain the license and determine the fiancees' to be the persons named on the license. For that purpose, the Judge may administer oaths and examine the fiancées' or require documentary proof that they are in fact the persons named on the license.
SECTION 403. MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
(A) A marriage ceremony may be performed by a Judge of the Tribal Court, by any public official whose duties include solemnization of marriages, or by an ordained or recognized minister, priest, or other leader of any religious faith, who shall issue a marriage certificate in substantially the following form:
PIT RIVER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that _____________________________ of ________________________
and ____________________________ of _________________________, having obtained a valid marriage license, appeared before me on the ______ day of _______________, 20________, and were joined in marriage.Witnesses:
____________________________________________________________
(B) The marriage certificate shall be signed by two witnesses other than the persons being married and the person performing the marriage ceremony. Marriage certificates shall be returned to the Tribal court which shall retain the original and deliver a copy to the persons married.
(C) The solemnization of the marriage is not invalidated by the fact that the person solemnizing the marriage was not legally qualified to solemnize it, if either party to the marriage believed that person to be so qualified.
SECTION 404. AUTHORITY TO JOIN PERSONS IN MARRIAGE
(A) A marriage may be solemnized on the Reservation by any of the following:
(1) Recognized clergymen or persons recognized by their religions as having authority to marry;
(2) A judge of the Pit River Tribe;
(3) The Chairperson of the Pit River Tribe;
(4) Any person recognized by California Law as having authority to marry.
(B) No marriage solemnized before any person professing to have authority to marry shall be invalid for want of such authority, if consummated in the belief of the parties or either of them that such person had such authority and that they have been lawfully married.
ARTICLE V. RECOGNIZING MARRIAGES
SECTION 501. RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN MARRIAGES
A marriage duly licensed and performed under the laws of the United States, any tribe, state, or foreign nation shall be recognized as valid by the Pit River Tribal Court for all purposes.
SECTION 502. COMMON LAW MARRIAGES
For a period of one (1) year from the date this Ordinance is adopted, the Court shall recognize and certify common law marriages, provided all of the following requirements are met:
(A) They must have been known as a family, with children resulting from the relationship;
(B) They must sign an affidavit, witnessed by not less than two (2) individuals outside their immediate families, attesting to:
(1) Their common law status, and
(2) The month and year they began the relationship. This affidavit must be filed with the Clerk with the appropriate Certificate fee.
SECTION 503. PRIOR MARRIAGES RATIFIED
All marriages previously performed by authorized persons which were legal under the forum of the law in which the members were married are hereby ratified.
SECTION 601. PRIOR DIVORCE DECREES - FULL FAITH AND CREDIT
Prior divorce decrees entered by the courts of competent jurisdiction between members of the tribe are hereby given full faith and credit.
SECTION 602. PREMARITAL AGREEMENTS
Fiancées may enter into premarital agreements. The agreements must be in writing and may only be changed after the marriage by written amendment. The agreements may involve any property of the parties but may not adversely affect child support. Agreements are enforceable without consideration.
SECTION 603. PRESUMPTION OF LEGITIMACY: LEGITIMATION BY MARRIAGE
OF PARENTS
All children born in wedlock are presumed to be legitimate. All children of a woman who has been married, born within ten (10) months after the dissolution of the marriage, are presumed to be legitimate of that marriage. A child born before wedlock becomes legitimate by the subsequent marriage of its parents. The children of all marriages null in law or dissolved by divorce are legitimate.
SECTION 604. DISPUTED LEGITIMACY: PROOF
The presumption of legitimacy can be disputed only by the husband or wife, or the descendant of one of them. Illegitimacy in such cases may be proved like any other fact.
| Resolution No.: |
___________- ___________-___________ |
| DATE: |
______________________________, 2003 |
| SUBJECT: | ADOPT MARRIAGE ORDINANCE |
| WHEREAS: |
The Pit River Tribe is a federally recognized tribe composed of eleven autonomous bands located in Northeastern California since time immemorial; and |
| WHEREAS: |
The Pit River Tribe is governed by the Pit River Tribal Council, the body duly elected under the constitution of the Pit River Tribe, adopted August 16, 1987, and approved by the assistant Secretary of Interior for Indian Affairs, December 3, 1987; and |
| WHEREAS: |
The Pit River Tribal Council is empowered by Articles VII of the constitution to enact all ordinances and resolutions which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into effect the Council's powers and responsibility, contract with federal, state and tribal governments, private enterprise, individuals and organizations; and |
| WHEREAS: |
The Tribal Council recognizes the need to expand the authority of the Tribal Court and provide additional services to Tribal members and residents within the exterior boundaries of the Pit River Tribe who consent to the jurisdiction of the Tribal Court, by establishing procedures through the Tribal Court for individuals to marry or certify a common law marriage; and |
| WHEREAS: |
The Tribal Council recognizes that the establishment of such procedures to be in the best interest of the Tribe and its membership. |
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Pit River Tribal Council approves the Marriage Ordinance for the Pit River Tribe.