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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>77159</law_id><section_number>20-40</section_number><catch_line>Punishment for violation of such prohibition; leaving Commonwealth to avoid</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="20">Domestic Relations</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="3">Unlawful Marriages Generally</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>If any person marry in violation of &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Certain marriages prohibited" href="/20-38.1/">20-38.1</a>, he shall be confined in jail not exceeding six months, or fined not exceeding $500, in the discretion of the <span class="dictionary">jury</span>. If any persons, resident in the Commonwealth and within the degrees of relationship mentioned in that section, shall go out of the Commonwealth for the purpose of being married, and with the intention of returning, and be married out of it, and afterwards return to and reside in it, cohabiting as a married couple, they shall be punished as provided in this section, and the marriage shall be governed by the same <span class="dictionary">law</span> as if it had been solemnized in the Commonwealth. The <span class="dictionary">fact</span> of such cohabitation here shall be <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> of such marriage. <span class="dictionary">Venue</span> for a violation of this section may be in the county or city where the subsequent marriage occurred or where the parties to the subsequent marriage cohabited.</p></section></text><history>Code 1919, &#xA7;&#xA7; 4540, 5089; 1976, c. 356; 2003, c. 99; 2020, c. 900.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
