Article 4

ELI5— what this means for you

If any of the essential requisites (Art. 2) are missing, the marriage is VOID — it never legally existed. If a formal requisite (Art. 3) is missing, the marriage is generally still void UNLESS the law says otherwise. However, if the solemnizing officer lacked authority but both parties believed in good faith that they had authority, the marriage may still be valid.