“Certain impediments to marriage in the civil law were described as being ex causa potestatis. Thus a tutor or curator could not marry his female ward until his office had terminated, or unless his accounts had been passed. A person administering a government or public office in a province, and the members of his family, were not permitted to intermarry with a person domiciled in his province, unless they had been betrothed to each other before he had accepted the office.” Alexander Wood Renton & George Grenville Phillimore, The Comparative Law of Marriage and Divorce 6 (1910).
ex causa potestatis
ex causa potestatis (eks kaw-z[schwa] poh-tes-tay-tis).Roman law. Because of his position of authority. • Certain men could not marry women who were subject to their guardianship or control, and the reason was said to be ex causa potestatis.