Hi Nancy, Good idea. I think that 'affinity' might be a good possibility. I wasn't sure what the meaning of 'obli(?)' was. But if I use my magnifying glass and take a real close look at the work 'obli..' it looks like there might be a 'g' after the 'i' but that is all the letters I make out. So it could very well as you said: 'obligata'. Again, my lack of Latin shows. Thanks for the help, Charlie King Nancy wrote: Charlie, I think you should also consider affinity (in addition to consanguinity) as the reason for the need of a dispensation. Perhaps, David, you could give Charlie your thinking on that? The "obli." in the record is probably irrelevant to the facts in the case. My reading would be that it is an abbreviation for obligata(...), the ending of the full word dependent on the case of "dispensation" in the original Latin record. That would simply mean that the dispensation was required, and the fact that the dispensation is noted has already told the reader that. Nancy _____________________________________________________________ Click for free information on court reporter careers, $100 per hour potential. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/REAK6ZpO9b5XlXDUc6B4fisetbdLBixdOuYFH0Kuf01fF5Z4orHtO8/