Family Solicitors

Every marriage that takes place within the UK has to be carried out according with the requirements laid down by the Marriage Act 1949 and subsequent amendments to the Act. The basic requirements here are that both parties to the marriage must be of the minimum age required by law. Additionally, they must not be related in a way that is proscribed by the law, such as siblings or first cousins. They also have to be sufficiently sound of mind to fully comprehend the nature of the marriage contract into which they are entering and be acting with their own full consent, without any form of physical or psychological duress.

There are however circumstances in which a marriage that has been entered into overseas can be recognised as being valid and in conformance with UK family law. However, there are still a number of minimal conditions that have to be met before such a marriage will be so recognised. It is a common, but unsupported assumption, that just because a couple have undergone some form of marriage ceremony and have then lived together for a certain period of time that the marriage is a valid one. Under UK family law there are minimum conditions that have to be met, whether the marriage took place on UK territory or abroad.

The absolutely minimum requirement for a marriage to be valid under UK law is that it must have been recognised as a valid ceremony that satisfied the legal requirements of the judiciary of the country in which it took place. Where the partners entering into the marriage ceremony have different countries of domicile, then there must be no objections on the part of the legal authorities in those countries to the marriage taking place. Also, if one or both of the partners has been previously married, then those previous marriages must have been properly terminated in accordance with UK family law.

An overseas marriage ceremony cannot be simply recorded at a UK register office. The normal procedure to registering an overseas marriage in the UK is to send off an application to the country where you were married requesting that they send the documents to the GRO (General Register Office) and this will create a permanent record of that marriage. The foreign authority will need to send either the original documents or certified copies.

A UK court may intervene and make a declaration concerning the validity of an overseas marriage. Anyone unsure about the legal status of their marriage should contact specialist family and child care solicitors such as Duncan Lewis, to assist them in petitioning a court for a status declaration under the Family Law Act 1986, Section 55. Another option is to obtain a Certificate of No Impediment from the relevant authorities in the country you are planning on getting married in, as this will confirm that there are no legal obstructions to the marriage.