Long-distance romantic relationships can be hard. Let’s say you want to get married but the two of you are 10,000 miles apart. Montana law has solved this problem for you. And the solution our state came up with only exists in Montana. It’s called double-proxy marriages.
In a double-proxy marriage, the two people need not be in Montana. Each person has a proxy – a stand-in – appear at the courthouse. To prevent just anyone from getting Montana marriage licenses, one of the two people must be either an active-duty member of the military or a resident of Montana. (You don’t need to live full-time in Montana to be a Montana resident.)
Double-proxy marriages are a big business in Montana. In 2019, Flathead County alone had 1,200 of them. When COVID hit, that number jumped to 4,200 in 2020 and 4,300 in 2021.
In case your family and friends don’t believe you when you tell them people can be 10,000 miles apart and still get married in Montana, the statute is MCA 40-1-301.
For a copy of this Ask An Attorney column, including hyperlinks to the referenced resources, go to www.OverstreetLawGroup.com/blog
(This information is of a general nature; exceptions to these general statements might exist. This information is for general educational purposes only; no attorney-client relationship with Overstreet Law Group, LLC is formed unless a person enters into a written representation agreement with the firm.)
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