{"data":{"id":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-19-3-5","jurisdiction":"us-ga","citation":"O.C.G.A. § 19-3-5","heading":"What marriages void; legitimacy of issue; effect of later ratification.","body":"(a) Marriages of persons unable to contract, unwilling to contract, or fraudulently induced to contract shall be void. However, the issue of such a marriage born before the marriage is annulled and declared void by a competent court shall be legitimate.\n(b) In the case of persons unwilling to contract or fraudulently induced to do so, a subsequent consent and ratification of the marriage, freely and voluntarily made, accompanied by cohabitation as husband and wife shall render the marriage valid. In the case of a marriage void on one of the grounds specified in paragraphs (1) through (3) of Code Section 19-3-2, after removal of the impediment to marriage, a subsequent free and voluntary consent and ratification of the marriage accompanied by cohabitation as husband and wife shall likewise render the marriage valid.","path":["TITLE 19 Domestic Relations","CHAPTER 3 Marriage Generally","Article 1 General Provisions"],"source_url":"https://archive.org/download/gov.ga.ocga.2018/release86.2022.11/gov.ga.ocga.title.19.odt","current_through":"Release 86 (2022-11)","vintage":"Public.Resource.Org bulk O.C.G.A., Release 86 (2022-11), retrieved 2026-09-17","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T19:34:57Z","sha256":"ac730e1e856518ef065b0aeea0d61e20ae4258b547e14c4a423f85938371a3ea","source_id":"us-ga","stale":false,"prev":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-19-3-4","next":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-19-3-6"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}