Accounts Management, Inc. v. Litchfield

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] Today we must decide whether failure to record a marriage license invalidates a marriage. A widow denies responsibility for her deceased husband’s medical bills contending her marriage was void for lack of recording with the register of deeds. Because we construe our licensing statutes to favor validation of marriages even when a statutory formality was overlooked, we declare the marriage valid and conclude our statutes make her financially responsible for his medical care. Her debt is affirmed.

Facts

[¶ 2.] Fredrick Klusman and Claudia Cas-well submitted an…