Instruction #2
To establish that David Hofer and Marta Danylyk agreed to be husband and wife, the evidence must show that they intended to create an immediate and permanent marital relationship and that they did in fact agree to be husband and wife.
Instruction #4
The element “represented to others” requires more than occasional references to each other as “wife” and “husband.”
Instruction #6
Instruction #3
Present consent and agreement to be married is the gist of an informal marriage, and it is not sufficient to agree on present cohabitation and future marriage. The agreement necessary for an informal marriage must be specific from both sides.
Instruction #5
Whether David Hofer and Marta Danylyk had a reputation in the community for being married to one another is a significant factor in your determination of whether David Hofer and Marta Danylyk each represented to others that they were married.
Proving a reputation for being married requires evidence that David Hofer and Marta Danylyk consistently conducted themselves as husband and wife in the public eye or that the wider community viewed them as married.