In re Marriage of Vryonis
California Court of Appeal
248 Cal. Rptr. 807 (1988)
- Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD
Facts
Speros Vryonis, Jr. (defendant) was the director of an education program. Fereshteh Vryonis (plaintiff) was a visiting professor from Iran at this education program. Speros and Fereshteh saw each other occasionally, but Fereshteh told Speros she could not date Speros without a marriage commitment because of her Muslim faith. Fereshteh performed a religious Muslim marriage ceremony in her California apartment for her and Speros, although Fereshteh had no knowledge of California marriage requirements. After the religious ceremony, Speros and Fereshteh kept the marriage a secret, did not live together, did not mix finances, did not financially support each other, and rarely saw each other. Speros later married another woman, and Fereshteh filed suit against Speros to dissolve the marriage and seek a determination of property rights. Speros moved to dismiss, arguing that a marriage did not exist. The trial court denied the motion, holding that although the typical indicia of a formal legal marriage did not exist, Fereshteh was a putative spouse because she believed in good faith that she was validly married under Muslim law. Speros appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Klein, J.)
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