Directives From the Guardian
122 MARRIAGE, BAHÁ'Í (re: Consent of Natural Parents)
"Our beloved Guardian made it clear that it was the responsibility
of the Bahá'í body performing the marriage ceremony
to confirm without question the fact that the living natural
parents of the two individuals who are being married have
given their consent to the marriage. It is preferable that this
consent be given in writing, but if this is not possible, or inadvisable
for some reason, verbal consent in the present of witnesses
is sufficient."... "Regarding your question of applying
the sanction of suspension of voting rights to people who marry
without the consent of parents, this should be done from now
on. The laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are explicit and not open to
any ambiguity at all. As long as the parents are alive, the consent
must be obtained; it is not conditioned on their relationship
to their children. If the whereabouts of the parents is not
known legally, in other words, if they are legally dead, then it is
not necessary for the children to obtain their consent, obviously.
It is not a question of the child not knowing the present whereabouts
of the parents, it is a question of a legal thing--if the
parents are alive, they must be asked."
Directives From the Guardian
pages 45-46
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