Act of Congress Marriage Act

House Vote: 8-0-0
Senate Vote: 4-0-1

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the “Marriage Act”
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

2 - Purpose
(1) The purpose of this bill is to create a formal legal process for marriage.
(2) Additionally, this bill outlines the protections and benefits that a player may receive from such.

3 - Registration
(1) The Department of Public Affairs will facilitate a space for players to legally register their marriage.

4 - Definitions
(1) Hereby defines “marriage” as a registered union between two consenting players.
(a) This only applies to in-game marriages, it does not apply to acts, such as, but not limited to, The Marriage Act, unless otherwise specified in the respective act.
(b) Marriage is to be in a union via the marriage plugin, of any amount of consenting players.
(2) Hereby defines “spouse” as the legally recognized partner in the marriage to the player.
(3) Hereby defines "in absentia" as when a spouse has been inactive for over a period of 1 week.
(4) Hereby defines "prenuptial contract" as a binding contract signed by both partners outlining the extra terms of a marriage.

5 - Legal Protections
(1) Players may be represented by their spouses in absentia on any and all legal matters.
(2) Players cannot be obligated to testify as a witness against their spouse in any legal matters.

6 - Shared Finances
(1) Married couples may choose to share finances, such as, but not limited to, financial burdens and gains, if they both consent on their marriage registration thread.
(2) All players involved in a marriage together may also decide what to do with their assets should one player declare their intent to leave the server, are inactive for over 3 months, or any other action that may indicate their disappearance.
(a) The players who allow their assets to be taken must say so directly on their marriage registration thread as well as which spouse has access (should the registered marriage be between more than three individuals).
(b) The player may retrieve the assets from their spouse via request to the DoJ, and an asset seizure warrant is still required for documentation.

7 - Divorce
(1) If both spouses would like to deregister a marriage, they may contact the DPA to have it deregistered.
(2) If only one spouse would like to deregister a marriage, they may file for divorce in the court if they wish to have a marriage deregistered.
(3) If any party disputes the divorce, the court will decide how any shared assets, such as financial burdens and gains, may be divided; with the exception of a prenuptial contract that outlines otherwise.

8 - Children of Divorce
(1) In the event spouses choose to deregister their marriage, they must also inform the DPA of who has custody over their adopted child(ren). This should be done by commenting on the original adoption thread of the child.
(2) One spouse may have complete custody, spouses may have split custody, or both spouses may opt to abandon their child entirely.
(3) In the event that divorced spouses cannot reach a custody agreement privately, they must file for custody in the District Court in order to reach a court-ordered custody agreement.
(4) Given there are no costs associated with having a child on the server, there will be no required child support.

9 - Step-Parent, what are you doing?
(1) If a spouse has a child(ren) from a previous marriage, an existing marriage, or from being a single parent and remarries, their new partner may opt to adopt the child(ren) with permission from both the parent and child.
(2) To make the adoption official, the new partner must comment on the existing adoption thread expressing their intent to adopt the child. The parent and child must both reply to this with approval to which the DPA will notify them that the adoption has been updated.
(3) A parent is not obligated to allow their new partner to adopt their child.

10 - Widows
(1) If the one or more party has not joined the server in 2 months or has declared their intent to leave the server the following shall apply:
(a) Any prenuptial agreement pertaining to the marriage shall be nullified.
(b) Both parties shall keep any assets attained during, before, or after the marriage.
(c) The marriage shall be marked as deregistered .
(d) The child(ren) shall be put into custody of the parent who has joined the server in the last two months and has not declared their intent to leave the server.
(2) If both spouses have not joined the server in 2 months and/or have declared their intent to leave the server the marriage shall remain registered.