Well, now we know where the marriage "scorched earth" starts

[robkelk]

The Dutch actually have a very simple solution to this problem.

The only marriage that's legally recognised is that provided by the government. You can get married in a church, you can get married before the church (authority), but unless you are married by a duly designated special officer of the state authorised to perform marriages that has no legal power and is in fact illegal. Especially if you then try to claim marriage benefits.

I expect that most clergy in the Netherlands are such officers, or if not that the couple first, quietly, signs the paperwork at townhall before going to the ceremony at church.

That's actually what we're supposed to have. The government grants the licenses. Most clergy are duly authorized to perform marriages on behalf of the state (although given the current shenanigans in Missouri, I wonder if that should change and you have to bring in a state official separately from your clergy ). At least in Colorado, you can sign the marriage license as part of the ceremony (you go and get the paperwork from the courthouse of whatever county you reside in prior to the ceremony), with a couple of witnesses, and then file it within a week or so. Or you can just go to the courthouse and do the paperwork ahead of time.

It's much the same in Ontario. The church ceremony, the ceremony in front of the Justice of the Peace, or no ceremony at all - they don't matter. What matters is completing the marriage license in front of witnesses.