MARRIAGE DOES NOT CHANGE A WOMAN’S STATE OF ORIGIN — LAWYER CLARIFIES
TEC News|2nd January, 2025.
A legal practitioner, Stella Justice Nnennaya, has clarified that marriage does not alter a woman’s state of origin, stressing that constitutionally and legally, a married woman retains her father’s state of origin irrespective of her marital status.
Speaking through her platform, Legal and Marriage Clinic with Stella, the lawyer explained that many women are often misinformed or pressured into adopting their husband’s state of origin in official matters, a practice she described as incorrect and legally unsupported.
According to Nnennaya, a woman’s state of origin is determined by her father’s state and remains unchanged whether she is single or married. She emphasized that while marriage may affect a woman’s surname, residence, address, and marital status, it does not change her legal identity in terms of origin.
“Marriage changes status, not identity,” she noted, adding that a woman may reside or work in her husband’s state, but residence should not be confused with state of origin.
She further clarified that a husband’s state of origin remains his personal identity and does not transfer to his wife by virtue of marriage.
The lawyer urged women to be confident when filling official forms and responding to questions on state of origin, advising them to always state their father’s state as required by law.
The clarification, dated January 2, 2026, has since generated conversations on legal rights, gender identity, and civic documentation, with many commending the intervention as timely and educative.
TEC News will continue to provide public-interest legal education to promote awareness and protect citizens from misinformation.
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