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| Legally marrying the dead is called necrogamy |
During World War I, there were women who used a proxy to marry soldiers that had died weeks earlier. For civilians, posthumous marriage originated in the 1950's, when 400 people were killed in France after a dam broke.
André Capra was killed in the disaster and he was engaged to Iréne Jodart. Irene pleaded with French President Charles de Gaulle to let her continue with her marriage plans even though her fiancé had died. She had huge support from the media and within months, she was allowed to marry her dead fiancé.
After the dam tragedy, France’s parliament made these marriages legal with their own law and since then, literally hundreds of women have formally filed for as postmortem marriages.
As with anything, there are Rules:
1 - Anyone in France who wants to file for posthumous marriage must send a request to the President of France, who forwards it to the Justice Minister, who forwards it to the prosecutor for the surviving member’s district.
2 - If the couple had originally planned on getting married and if the family of the deceased approves, the prosecutor sends the application back to the President. One out of every four applicants for posthumous marriage is rejected.
3 - Examples of ways to legally show good intentions are for the man to have posted banns (official wedding announcements) at the local courthouse or written permission from a soldier's commanding officer.
4 - Requests also include records that show a serious cause for the marriage - such as the birth of a child or the death of the fiancé.
5 - Pregnancy alone or a letter that promises marriage is not enough, partly because such letters have a reputation for being illegitimate.
6 - The marriage date always goes back to the day before the deceased spouse died.
7 - Even if the couple were engaged and had published banns, a posthumous marriage won't automatically happen, partly because living engaged couples can (and do) change their minds at the last minute.
8 - A posthumous marriage can also be denied based on the testimony of a trustworthy individual. The judge’s role is to make sure that the paperwork has been properly filled out. The judge cannot change or question the authority of the documents.
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