Divorce Attorneys

One week before same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts, the Cape Cod town of Provincetown voted Monday to issue marriage licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples even if they have no intention of moving to Massachusetts. The move contradicts a directive by Gov. Mitt Romney, who has said that no same-sex couples residing out of state would be allowed to marry here.

Mr. Romney, who opposes same-sex marriage, has invoked a 1913 law that says that the state will not marry couples if their marriage would be ‘’void'’ in their home state. The governor has interpreted that to mean that since no other state performs same-sex marriages, only Massachusetts same-sex couples are eligible to marry here.

Couples applying for marriage licenses in Massachusetts are required to fill out a form asking where they reside and where they intend to reside, and to sign it under penalty of perjury. Town and city clerks have been instructed by the governor’s office to issue licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples if they intend to move to the state, but not those who plan to return to their home states.

But the board of selectmen in Provincetown, a town with a large gay population, voted unanimously to issue the licenses even if the applicants declare on the form that they do not intend to live in Massachusetts. The new policy reads: ‘’The town clerk may issue marriage licenses to any persons – whether residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, non-commonwealth residents that intend to reside in Massachusetts, or non-commonwealth residents that do not intend to reside in Massachusetts.'’The couples must sign the form, attesting that they have been truthful on their application and that they know of no ‘’legal impediment'’ to their marriage.

‘’To start to say yes to certain couples but not others doesn’t make sense,'’ said the Provincetown town clerk, Douglas Johnstone.

‘’If they sign the affirmation,'’ Mr. Johnstone said, a couple will receive a marriage license. Essentially, the onus would be on the couple to be truthful and to accept the consequences of getting a license in defiance of the governor’s edict.

The town clerk in Worcester has also said he will issue licenses to out-of-state couples, but Provincetown is the first community where elected town officials have voted to make such a practice town policy. Provincetown is expected to draw gay couples from across the state and the country beginning next week.

Governor Romney, a Republican, said in a statement Monday that state law prohibited out- of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts. He said: ‘’I expect local officials to follow this law regardless of their personal views. If they choose to break the law, we will take appropriate enforcement action, refuse to recognize those marriages and inform the parties that the marriage is null and void.'’

Shawn Feddeman, a spokeswoman for the governor, said that such marriages would not be recorded by the state’s Department of Public Health. It was not clear Monday how the state would go about scrutinizing the marriage application forms, what sort of action would be taken against defiant clerks or whether enforcement would be handled by district attorneys or the attorney general.