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Hey guys what's-
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice...
US marriage law varies from state to state. First-cousin marriage is legal is many, though not most, states. (I live in New York, and I do know that first-cousin marriage is legal here. Some friends of mine are a married couple that are also first cousins.)
My understanding is that, under the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution of the United States, contracts entered into legally under the laws of one state are enforceable even in state jurisdictions where the contract would not otherwise be legal.
So, if my aforementioned friends decided to move to Texas, where first-cousin marriages are illegal, their marriage would still remain valid under Texas law.
However, if they lived in Texas in the first place, and then got married in New York on vacation to escape Texas law, Texas could consider the marriage void.
At least, that's how my married-cousin friends explained it to me when it came up in conversation.
My understanding is that, under the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution of the United States, contracts entered into legally under the laws of one state are enforceable even in state jurisdictions where the contract would not otherwise be legal.
That is not, strictly speaking, true (cf. gay marriage) but it is mostly true in the case of marrying people who would be underage in your state of residence, or marrying your cousin where that would be prohibited in your state of residence.
Edgar Allen Poe did it.
& Jerry Lee Lewis. What august company!
It's legal in Rhode Island. Look, if your home state didn't have to pass a law against first cousins marrying, that doesn't reflect badly on the current population.
My understanding is that, under the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution of the United States, contracts entered into legally under the laws of one state are enforceable even in state jurisdictions where the contract would not otherwise be legal.That is not, strictly speaking, true (cf. gay marriage) but it is mostly true in the case of marrying people who would be underage in your state of residence, or marrying your cousin where that would be prohibited in your state of residence.
Re: same-sex marriage: true enough. That's the basis of several Federal cases challenging state bans on same-sex marriage that are working their way up the judical system. If a state does not allow first-cousin marriages, but recognizes such valid marriages performed in otherstates, what is the legal basis for singling out same-sex marriages for special (discriminatory) treatment?
(IOW, if Texas bans both first-cousin marriages and same-sex marriages, why can it accept the former when performed out-of-state, and not the latter? c.f. equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the full faith and credit clause of Article IV, Section 1.)