Talk:Posthumous marriage

That old mindbender, and what I'm now made to wonder

There's an old mindbender that exists in a few versions. The first version I came across involved a lawyer answering questions on a phone-in radio programme, and one caller asked if the law allows a man to marry his widow's sister. The lawyer's response: "The law has nothing to say on the matter. However, if you are the man in question, I very much doubt you'll ever find the opportunity!" The puzzle is for the reader to explain the lawyer's statement.

Other versions include simply "Can you marry your widow's sister?" and "Is it legal in California for a man to marry his widow's sister?" But even in the latter form, the answer typically given is "No, because he would be dead", which made me wonder why on earth the law bothers to forbid the impossible. Then I figured that maybe the government figured there had to be a law against posthumous marriage generally. And then began to wonder whether posthumous marriage actually exists in some cultures.

I don't know if it's the same throughout the world that a marriage normally ends when one of the spouses dies, thereby (in monogamous jurisdictions) freeing up the surviving spouse to marry again. But when you have posthumous marriage, is it the same, so that the marriage ends before it begins? Moreover, when living people are married and one dies, do both cease to be married, thereby enabling the marriage of one's widow's sister, or does the deceased husband need to obtain a divorce first? — Smjg (talk) 12:47, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

"I did"

How can the deceased French bride/groom say "I did" when the actual words spoken in French are "oui" ("yes")? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:B011:380B:194F:C5EC:3859:4A5D:94BE (talk) 05:17, 22 March 2016 (UTC)

"Until death do us part"

"Until death do us part" is not uttered during a wedding ceremony in France anyway. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.57.83.92 (talk) 23:00, 20 June 2017 (UTC)