Each party may designate on the application for a license a new name effective upon the marriage. The surname need not be the same for both parties or the same as either premarriage name. The officials authorized to solemnize marriages include judges, clerks of court, and licensed ministers, priests or rabbis. In some counties there is a court commissioner who is authorized to officiate at marriage ceremonies. There are also special provisions for marriage between members of the Bahai, Hindu, Quaker and American Indian religious groups.
Spouses have the obligation to support each other.
A spouse is liable for necessaries furnished to the other spouse and for household articles and supplies furnished to the family home. Each spouse is entitled to obtain credit or borrow individually in his or her own name, or spouses may jointly incur debt. Spouses cannot contract with each other concerning their real estate. This means that a deed of real property from one spouse to another is not valid unless it is a deed to create a joint interest between them. Also, the signature of both spouses is necessary in order to effectively convey or mortgage the real property owned by either spouse.