California Family Code § 2200

Summary

California Family Code § 2200 specifies which marriages are incestuous and therefore void from the outset. The statute prohibits marriages between parents and children, between any direct ancestors and descendants, between siblings (whether half-blood or whole-blood), and between an aunt or uncle and a niece or nephew. Any marriage falling within these relationships is automatically invalid (void ab initio) regardless of consent or legitimacy. The purpose of § 2200 is to codify these incestuous relationships so that such marriages have no legal effect and may be annulled at any time.

Examples

• Parent and Child: If an adult marries his or her own mother or father, the marriage is incestuous and void under section 2200.
• Siblings (half or whole blood): A marriage between full siblings or between half-siblings is declared void from the beginning by this statute.
• Aunt/Uncle and Niece/Nephew: If an aunt or uncle marries a niece or nephew, that marriage is incestuous and legally void under this section.

Relevant Cases

• People v. Womack (1959) 167 Cal.App.2d 130 – The court held that under the preceding law an uncle’s sexual relations with his niece (even by half blood) fell within the incest prohibition. It reasoned that the common meaning of “uncle” includes both whole- and half-blood relations, so the statute’s ban on such marriages applied.
• People v. Baker (1968) 69 Cal.2d 44 – The California Supreme Court clarified that the phrase “of the half as well as the whole blood” only modified “siblings.” It held that an uncle and niece related only by half-blood were not covered by the incest statute, effectively requiring a full-blood relationship for incest to be found.
• People v. Russell (1971) 22 Cal.App.3d 330 – This appellate decision followed Baker, confirming that a full-blood relationship is necessary to violate the incest statute. The court instructed that the jury had to find the defendant was a full-blood uncle of the child before an incest conviction could stand, in line with Baker’s ruling.

Full Text

California Family Code § 2200: Marriages between parents and children, ancestors and descendants of every degree, and between siblings of the half as well as the whole blood, and between uncles or aunts and nieces or nephews, are incestuous, and void from the beginning, whether the relationship is legitimate or illegitimate.