This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

H and W exchanged vows in two separate marriage ceremonies in North Carolina occurring twelve years apart. The first ceremony was presided over by Hawk Littlejohn, who held himself out to be a Cherokee medicine man and who was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church. In 2001, H and W's estate planning attorney expressed his concern that the 1989 ceremony was not valid. H and W participated in a second ceremony at the First Presbyterian Church in Franklin, North Carolina. In 2005, W filed for divorce, equitable distribution, alimony, and child support, alleging that the parties' date of marriage was 15 October 1989, the date of the 1989 ceremony. H alleged that Hawk Littlejohn was not authorized under North Carolina law to perform a valid marriage ceremony; and, therefore, the date of marriage was 14 October 2001, the date of the second ceremony. The trial court concluded that the 1989 ceremony resulted in a valid marriage and H was estopped from contesting the validity of the 1989 ceremony. H appealed.

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