Validating DataAnnotations with Validator class
I found the answer here: http://forums.silverlight.net/forums/p/149264/377212.aspx MVC recognizes the MetaDataType attribute, but other projects do not. Before validating, you need to manually register the metadata class: TypeDescriptor.AddProviderTransparent( new AssociatedMetadataTypeTypeDescriptionProvider(typeof(Persona), typeof(Persona_Validation)), typeof(Persona)); ValidationContext context = new ValidationContext(p, null, null); List<ValidationResult> results = new List<ValidationResult>(); bool valid = Validator.TryValidateObject(p, context, results, true);