Case Update (23 April 2026): Aldarraji v. Alolwan; the parties tried fitting their UAE marriage into a Maine box, but this was wrong

Two parties met in 2019, and later that year, traveled to Dubai from Maine, for a religious marriage ceremony.  Instead of using a religious official in Dubai, the couple had a Maine imam officiate the ceremony remotely from a mosque in Maine. The imam gave them a certificate of religious marriage.  Soon thereafter, the parties had a wedding reception in Turkiye, where two witnesses signed their certificate of religious marriage. They then returned to Maine to live. They never participated in a Maine civil ceremony, or took steps to validate their marriage in Maine, although one spouse went to city hall and tried, unsuccessfully, to “certify” the marriage before filing for divorce.  After one party filed for divorce in Maine, the other party filed a motion to dismiss the divorce complaint, arguing they were not legally married. The trial court granted the motion. The party seeking the Maine divorce appealed. 

The Supreme Court of Maine did a great job analyzing this issue. They correctly pinpointed the question as whether this particular marriage was valid under the law of the place where it was concluded, i.e., the UAE. The parties consistently argued, at trial and on appeal, that Maine law applied.  At times, they argued that the correct standard was to apply the law of the most significant connection to the parties, i.e., Maine. The Maine Supreme Court declined to take that view. If Maine law applied, the parties argued that Maine law allows an omission in the process for some exempt religious officiants.  But, as the Supreme Court said, this is not the correct legal question.  The trial court apparently made note of the correct legal question - whether this marriage was legal in the UAE - but no one bit on that question.  Therefore, the Supreme Court could not conclude there was a valid marriage. Maine law does not recognize a common law marriage, so the parties did not later contract a marriage in Maine. 

This may create an interesting debate over certain couples who are choosing to use a Utah official to have a remote wedding in a foreign jurisdiction where they sit. See more information about the Utah remote marriage debate. Since COVID, and with the remote nature of families, this debate will only increase.