ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Putative marriage

Okay, so imagine you have a best friend named Sam. One day, Sam tells you that they got married but you’ve never met or seen their spouse.

Now, you believe Sam’s story and think that they are married because they said so, but legally they may not be. That’s where the concept of putative marriage comes into play.

Putative marriage is when someone enters into a marriage with the belief that it is legal, but in reality, it is not. This can happen if there was a mistake in the marriage license, if one of the parties was already married, or if they were too closely related.

In some cases, even if the marriage is not recognized as legal, the parties involved can still have certain legal rights and protections as if they were legally married, like the division of property or spousal support.

So, to sum it up, putative marriage is when someone thinks they are legally married but they are not, and there can still be legal consequences and protections that come with it.
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