A court in the Netherlands declared a couple’s marriage invalid because the marriage vows generated with artificial intelligence They did not include the mandatory legal formulas.
The couple married in April 2025 in Zwolle, in the north of the country. Wanting a civil ceremony, they asked a friend to officiate, who turned to ChatGPT to write the vows.
However, according to a ruling handed down on Tuesday by the Zwolle court, an essential requirement was overlooked: the inclusion of a legal declaration in which the couple affirm that they will comply with all legal obligations arising from the marriage.
“The aforementioned statement shows that the man and woman did not refer to article 1:67, paragraph 1, of the Dutch Civil Code,” the court noted.
The text generated by the AI included references to “laughing together, growing together and loving each other no matter what,” among other expressions, but it omitted the mandatory legal declaration, so the court decided to annul the marriage.
“This means that the marriage certificate was erroneously registered in the civil registry,” the court indicated.
Despite this, the court allowed the couple to keep their initial wedding date as their legal marriage.