Cooling Off
The state of Wisconsin wants you to take it easy on your rebound and get to know yourself. Maybe learn to watercolor. State law requires at least a six-month gap between any divorce and a new marriage.
Unrequited Love
A 1907 Wisconsin law (later repealed) forbade the “insane, mentally imbecile, feeble-minded or epileptic” from ever getting married or having “intercourse.” Engaging in the latter carried a penalty of up to six months in jail.
Ties that Bind
Typically, a binding marriage ceremony must have someone of the cloth on hand, whether that’s a judge’s robes or a religious leader’s vestments. However, devising your own “spiritual ceremony” is completely allowed, even if it involves transforming the vows into a drinking game, or tying the knot inside a video game. Whatever happens, someone has to supply an official we-got-married document to the county clerk, written in “unfading black ink.”
Teen Marriage
In Wisconsin, youths ages 16 or 17 can get married, but only with the written and notarized permission of their parents. A form is available from your local county clerk.
Too Generous
Wisconsin actually sets a limit on how much a spouse can give away from shared “marital assets” without the other spouse’s permission. For example, if Bill gives $2,000 (more than the $1,000 limit) to the Humane Society, and wife Susan, a local history buff, would rather give it to the Historical Society, she can sue the animal people to get the money back.
The Plot-Twist Rule
Under Wisconsin law, if your husband or wife is lost at sea, disappears after a mysterious car accident, or is otherwise believed to have expired, you can remarry, and you won’t get in trouble. Even if your thought-to-be-dead spouse pulls a Cast Away and shows up on your doorstep one day (standing in the rain). Both marriages exist, for a time, in a weird kind of limbo, but case law would tend to favor seeking a swift divorce from one soul mate or the other.
License to Print Money
Marriage licenses are priced astronomically high in Wisconsin, partly because state law sets a minimum cost of $50. Milwaukee County’s price ($110) and Dane County’s ($120) are among the highest in the country. New York City charges only $35.
Kissing Cousins
First cousins can also tie the knot. How? Our mindful legal system provides two options: The first is for first-cousin marriages involving women over the age of 55. Those are all legit. Otherwise, half of the connubial unit must supply a doctor-signed affidavit asserting that he or she is “permanently sterile.” Marrying siblings – half siblings included – is still verboten.
