Opinion ID: 2297178
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Doctrine of Comity

Text: Under the doctrine of comity, long applied in our State, Maryland courts will give effect to laws and judicial decisions of another state or jurisdiction, not as a matter of obligation but out of deference and respect. Wash. Suburban Sanitary Comm'n v. CAE-Link Corp., 330 Md. 115, 140, 622 A.2d 745, 757 (1993) (citing Galloway v. Watts, 395 F.Supp. 729, 731 (D.Md.1975)). When considering a foreign marriage specifically, Maryland courts follow the choice-of-law rule of lex loci celebrations, [12] applying the substantive law of the place where the contract of marriage was formed. Jackson v. Jackson, 82 Md. 17, 28, 33 A. 317, 318 (1895). Generally, Maryland courts will honor foreign marriages as long as the marriage was valid in the state where performed. Henderson, 199 Md. at 458, 87 A.2d at 408; Bannister v. Bannister, 181 Md. 177, 180, 29 A.2d 287, 288 (1942); accord Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 283(1) (1971). There are two exceptions to this rule: the foreign marriage may not be repugnant to Maryland public policy and may not be prohibited expressly by the General Assembly. See Henderson, 199 Md. at 459, 87 A.2d at 409 ([T]he State is not bound to give effect to marriage laws that are repugnant to its own laws and policy. Marriages that are tolerated in another state but are condemned by the State of Maryland as contrary to its public policy will not be held valid in this State.); Fensterwald, 129 Md. at 137-38, 98 A. at 360 (quoting Jackson, 82 Md. at 29-30, 33 A. at 318-19); accord Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 283(2). Maryland recognizes liberally foreign marriages, even those marriages that may be prohibited from being formed if conducted in this State. Research by the parties, amici, and this Court failed to reveal a case, decided by this Court, voiding a valid out-of-state marriage that was prohibited from being formed in Maryland. [13] Liberal recognition of out-of-state marriages promotes uniformity in the recognition of the marital status, so that persons legally married according to the laws of one state will not be held to be living in adultery in another State, and that children begotten in lawful wedlock in one State will not be held illegitimate in another. Henderson, 199 Md. at 458, 87 A.2d at 408 (citing, among other authorities, Lando v. Lando, 112 Minn. 257, 127 N.W. 1125 (1910)). Further, the recognition of foreign marriages instills stability in one of the most important of human relations. Eugene F. Scoles & Peter H. Hay, Conflict of Laws 429 (2d ed.1991); see also William M. Richman & William L. Reynolds, Understanding Conflict of Laws § 116(a), at 362 (2d ed.1993). The following cases illustrate the liberal recognition of valid foreign marriages in this State. Maryland law prohibits the formation of common law marriages within the State. Mendelson v. Mendelson, 75 Md.App. 486, 502, 541 A.2d 1331, 1339 (1988). Yet, Maryland courts will recognize out-of-state common law marriages, if valid where formed. See, e.g., Henderson, 199 Md. at 458-60, 87 A.2d at 408-09 (recognizing, for purposes of divorce, a common law marriage formed in the District of Columbia); Whitehurst v. Whitehurst, 156 Md. 610, 620, 145 A. 204, 207-08 (1929) (recognizing, for purposes of administering the deceased husband's estate, a common law marriage formed in New York). The Court of Special Appeals has gone so far as to infer that a couple's two-day sojourn in Pennsylvania, a common law marriage state, created a valid foreign marriage, where their relationship fulfilled otherwise the common law marriage requirements. Blaw-Knox Constr. Equip. Co. v. Morris, 88 Md.App. 655, 669-72, 596 A.2d 679, 685-87 (1991) (concluding that, for purposes of maintaining a wrongful death claim, there was sufficient evidence for the jury to consider whether a couple was married). We recognized, for domestic law purposes, a Rhode Island marriage between an uncle and a niece. Fensterwald, 129 Md. at 137-38, 98 A. at 360. At that time in Maryland, an uncle-niece marriage was void and constituted further a misdemeanor, subject to a fine. Md.Code (1904), Art. 27 § 297, Art. 62 § 2. The couple traveled to Rhode Island expressly for the purpose of avoiding the Maryland prohibition (and possibly criminal prosecution). Fensterwald, 129 Md. at 134, 98 A. at 359. Despite these facts, we deemed the marriage so formed in Rhode Island to be valid in this State.