Marriage in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
became available to same-sex couples in December 2005 and grant rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. Subject to a Consultation process, Same-Sex Civil Marriage will become legal in time for the 2015 general election.
There are residency conditions that have to be met before people can be married. If one of the people wanting to marry is subject to immigration control, notice of marriage can only be done at a designated register office, which both parties must attend together. The marriageable age
Marriageable age
Marriageable age is the age at which a person is allowed to marry, either as of right or subject to parental or other forms of consent. The age and other requirements vary between countries, but generally it is set at 18, although most jurisdictions allow marriage at slightly younger ages with...
is 16 with the consent of parents but 18 otherwise. Marriage must be between two people of opposite-sex neither of whom are in a Civil Partnership or separate marriage (foreign divorces are generally recognised, but existing foreign polygamous
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
marriages prevent a marriage in the UK as this would be treated as bigamy
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
).
Certain relatives are not allowed to marry. The list of proscribed affinities
Affinity (law)
In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity, as distinguished from consanguinity, is kinship by marriage. It is the relation which each party to a marriage bears to the kindred of the other. In English, affinity is usually signified by adding "-in-law" to the degree of kinship...
was reduced in the early twentieth century by the Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907
Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907
The Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, allowing a man, if his wife had died, to marry her sister.Previously, it was forbidden for a man to marry the sister of his deceased wife...
, the Deceased Brother's Widow's Marriage Act 1921 and the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Relationship Act 1931.
Marriage procedures
Marriage Act 1994
The Marriage Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Introduced as a private member's bill by Gyles Brandreth, it amended the Marriage Act 1949 to allow marriages to be solemnized in certain "approved premises". Prior to the act, marriage ceremonies could only be conducted in...
may take place in other licensed venues. The marriage register is signed by the couple, the celebrant and two witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
es.
Priests of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
are legally required to marry people, providing one of them is from the local parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, regardless of whether the couple are practising. Special permission may be granted for out-of-parish weddings.
From the Marriage Act 1753
Marriage Act 1753
The Marriage Act 1753, full title "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage", popularly known as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act , was the first statutory legislation in England and Wales to require a formal ceremony of marriage. It came into force on 25 March 1754...
until 1837, only marriages conducted by the Church of England, by Quakers, or Jewish marriages, were recognised in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
. This was changed by the Marriage Act 1836
Marriage Act 1836
The Act for Marriages in England 1836 6&7WmIV, c85 was an act that legalised the concept of civil marriage into England and Wales from 1 January 1837....
which, in addition to introducing civil marriage
Civil marriage
Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
, also allowed ministers of other faiths (Nonconformists and Roman Catholics) to act as registrars. The civil marriage law was superseded by the Marriage Act 1949
Marriage Act 1949
The Marriage Act 1949 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regulating marriages in England and Wales. The act abolished marriages for those under 16 years of age in England and Wales....
.
The Marriage Duty Acts of 1694 and 1695 required that banns or marriage licences must be obtained. The 1753 Act also laid down rules for where marriages were allowed to take place, whom you were and were not allowed to marry, required at least two witnesses to be present at the marriage ceremony and set a minimum marriageable age. This led to the practice of couples who could not meet the conditions in England and Wales eloping to Scotland.
For civil marriages, bann
Banns of marriage
The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" are the public announcement in a Christian parish church of an impending marriage between two specified persons...
s must be posted for fifteen days, at the appropriate register office. Church of England marriages require the banns to be read out three times at the appropriate church.
Parental permission is required for either party to a marriage who is less than 18 years old, but as long as they are at least 16 years old a lack of it does not necessarily invalidate the marriage.
Common law marriage
Legal common-law marriageCommon-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
was for practical purposes abolished under the Marriage Act, 1753. The term "common law marriage" is frequently used to describe mere cohabitation but such a "marriage" is extremely rarely recognised in law; cohabitation does not generally confer any of the rights or obligations associated with marriage on the parties. It survives only in a few highly exceptional circumstances, where people who want to marry are unable to do so any other way and can simply declare that they are taking each other as husband and wife in front of witnesses. British civilians interned by the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
who did so were held to be legally common law marriage.
Benefits and consequences
Upon death of one's spouse, bequests to the other spouse do not incur inheritance taxInheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
. Intestate property by default will go to the spouse. Also, there is partial inheritance of pensions.
In courts, one spouse may not be compelled to testify against the other. Non-British spouses of British citizens may obtain residence permits.
Spouses are considered to have a duty of care
Duty of care
In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action in negligence. The claimant...
towards each other, and certain social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
benefits are calculated differently from those for single people.
Foreign citizens wishing to marry in the UK
From 1 February 2005, visitors who wish to be married in the UK that are a citizen of a country that is not a member of the European Economic AreaEuropean Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
(EEA), must apply for a visa before they travel. Without the visa the registrar will not be able to accept the notice of marriage and will not be able to perform the marriage ceremony.
Until May 2011, persons already in the UK and a citizen of a country that was not a member of the EEA, needed the approval of the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
to be married. This was provided in the form of a certificate of approval. That programme was discontinued on 9 May 2011.
Royal marriages
Marriages of members of the royal family are regulated by the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which made it illegal for any member of the British royal family (defined as all descendants of King George IIGeorge II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
, excluding descendants of princesses who marry into "foreign families") under the age of 25 to marry without the consent of the ruling monarch. Any member of the Royal Family over the age of 25 who has been refused the sovereign's consent may marry one year after giving notice to the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
of their intention to so marry, unless Parliament passes an act against the marriage in the interim. In 2005, the Queen consented formally to the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles
Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles
The wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles took place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, on 9 April 2005. The ceremony, conducted in the presence of the couples' families, was followed by a Church of England service of blessing at St George's Chapel...
.
The royal family was specifically excluded from the Marriage Act 1836 which instituted civil marriages in England. However, Prince Charles's civil marriage raised questions. Lord Falconer of Thoroton told the House of Lords that the 1836 Act had been repealed by the Marriage Act 1949 which had different wording, and that the British Government were satisfied that it was lawful for the couple to marry by a civil ceremony in accordance with Part III of the 1949 Act, and the Registrar General
Registrar General
General Register Office, in England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and many Commonwealth nations, is the government agency responsible for civil registration - the recording of vital records such as births, deaths, and marriages...
Len Cook
Len Cook
Leonard Warren "Len" Cook, CBE is a professional statistician who was Government Statistician of New Zealand from 1992 to 2000 and National Statistician and Director of the Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom, and Registrar General for England and Wales from 2000 to...
determined that a civil marriage would in fact be valid. Any doubt as to the interpretation of the Marriage Act 1949 was put to rest by the Human Rights Act 1998
Human Rights Act 1998
The Human Rights Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 9 November 1998, and mostly came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim is to "give further effect" in UK law to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights...
, which requires that legislation is interpreted in conformity with convention rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
wherever possible (including the right to marry, without discrimination).
Divorce
DivorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
is allowed on various grounds. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 gives the following grounds for divorce:
- AdulteryAdulteryAdultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
- Unreasonable behaviour
- Desertion (two years)
- Separation, agreed divorce (two years)
- Separation, contested divorce (five years)
Civil re-marriage is allowed. Religions and denominations differ on whether they permit religious re-marriage.
See also
- Marriage CertificateMarriage certificateIn some jurisdictions a marriage certificate is the official record that two people have undertaken a marriage ceremony. This does include jurisdictions where marriage licenses do not exist...
- Civil Partnership
- English LawEnglish lawEnglish law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
- Fleet MarriageFleet MarriageA Fleet Marriage is the best-known example of an irregular or a clandestine marriage taking place in England before the Marriage Act 1753 came into force on March 25, 1754...
- MelltithMelltithMelltith is a 200-year old Welsh marriage custom, in which various obstacles are placed before the groom to block his path, as a rite of passage to prove his worth to the bride.The literal translation is Curse, or Bane....