Marriage in the United Kingdom

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Marriage in the United Kingdom has different sets of rules, for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Contents 1 Eligibility 2 Marriage Procedures 2.1 England and Wales 2.2 Scotland 2.3 Northern Ireland 3 Common law marriage 4 Benefits and consequences 5 Royal marriages 6 Divorce 7 See also

[edit] Eligibility

Marriage in the United Kingdom is between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage has not been recognised, although a case under the European Convention on Human Rights is being pursued to attempt to allow this. Civil partnerships became available to same-sex couples in December 2005 and grant rights and responsibilities identical to marriage.

The marriageable age is

• in England and Wales: 16 with consent of parents, 18 otherwise.
• in Scotland: 16
• in Northern Ireland: 17 with consent, 18 otherwise

Weddings conducted in one part of the United Kingdom are valid in other parts, even if they would not have been valid there. Marriage must be between two otherwise unmarried people (foreign divorces are generally recognised, but existing foreign polygamous marriages prevent a marriage in the UK as this would be treated as bigamy).

Certain relatives are not allowed to marry. The list in Scotland is that one may not marry one's:

• ancestor or descendant
• sibling
• aunt/uncle or nephew/niece
• adoptive parent
• adopted child

Additionally, the following marriages are not allowed except under certain circumstances:

• former spouse's descendant or ancestor
• ancestor or descendants's former spouse

The list of proscribed affinities was reduced in the early twentieth century by the Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907, the Deceased Brother's Widow's Marriage Act 1921 and the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Relationship Act 1931.

[edit] Marriage Procedures

The different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom have always had significant differences in the laws concerning marriage, although the ceremonial aspects of both civil and religious marriages are broadly similar.

[edit] England and Wales

Marriages can either be conducted by "authorised celebrants" (usually, but not always, a minister of religion) or by an "authorised Registrar". Civil marriages may not take place in religious venues, but since the Marriage Act 1994 may take place in other licensed venues. The marriage register is signed by the couple, the celebrant and two witnesses.

Priests of the Church of England and the Church in Wales are legally required to marry people, providing one of them is from the local parish, regardless of whether the couple are practising. Special permission may be granted for out-of-parish weddings.

From the Marriage Act 1753 until 1837, only marriages conducted by the Church of England, by Quakers, or Jewish marriages, were recognised in England and Wales. This was changed by the Marriage Act 1836 which, in addition to introducing civil marriage, also allowed ministers of other faiths (noncomformists and Catholics) to act as registrars. The civil marriage law was superseded by the Marriage Act 1949.

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, banns 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 if it takes place without it.

[edit] Scotland

In Scotland the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 is the main current legislation regulating marriage. The Marriage (Scotland) Act 2002 extends the availability of civil marriages to "approved places" in addition to Register Offices and any other place used in exceptional circumstances; religious marriages in Scotland have never been restricted by location.

Marriages can either be conducted by "authorised celebrants" (usually, but not always, a minister of religion) or by an "authorised Registrar".

Both parties to a marriage are required to independently submit marriage notice forms to the registrar of the district in which the marriage is to take place. In religious marriages a "Marriage Schedule" is completed by the parties involved and submitted to the local Register Office after the marriage so that it can be registered; the Marriage Schedule must be produced to the person performing the marriage otherwise it cannot take place. After the ceremony the Schedule is signed by the couple, their witnesses and the person performing the marriage. In civil marriages the Schedule is kept by the Registrar and signed after the ceremony. Unless specially authorised by the Registrar General, a minimum of 15 days notice must be given for a marriage but procedural requirements increase this for most marriages to 4-6 weeks to ensure that it can be determined that there is no impediment to the marriage. A list of forthcoming local marriages is displayed to the public at each Register Office.

Marriages in Scotland were also available by various means of "irregular marriage" which can be summarised as the agreement of the couple to be married and some form of witnessing or evidence of such; most forms were abolished by the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939 from 1st January 1940 but a marriage by "cohabitation with repute" can still be formed, although this method is now (2006) also being considered for abolition.

The different marriage laws in Scotland have encouraged the practice of couples who cannot meet the conditions in England eloping to Scotland. In the past when transport was less developed this led to Gretna Green, the first Scottish settlement on the main West Coast route from England and Lamberton Toll in Berwickshire being used for irregular "marriages by declaration" until this type of marriage was abolished in 1940; Gretna Green remains as a favoured marriage location but more modern runaway marriages tend to take place in other less obvious locations in Scotland. Parental permission is not required before the marriage of minors who are at least 16 years old can take place in Scotland, marriage below that age is not permitted.

[edit] Northern Ireland

The ceremonial side of marriage procedures in Northern Ireland are in many ways similar to those in England and Wales but like Scotland there is no restriction on the location of a religious marriage and the notification and registration involve a Marriage Schedule.

[edit] Common law marriage

Legal common-law marriage was for practical purposes abolished in England and Wales 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 during World War II who did so were held to be legally married.

Under Scots law, there were several forms of "irregular marriage" (including marriage by correspondence), but all but one of them was abolished by 1940. Today, Scotland remains the only European jurisdiction never to have abolished the old style common-law marriage or, as it is known in Scots Law, "marriage by cohabitation with repute" (popularly described as by "habit and repute", repute being the crucial element to be proved).

[edit] Benefits and consequences

Main article: Legal consequences of marriage in the United Kingdom

Upon death of one's spouse, bequests to the other spouse do not incur inheritance tax. Intestate property by default will go to the spouse. Also, there is partial inheritance of pensions.

In courts in England and Wales 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 towards each other, and certain social security benefits are calculated differently from those for single people.

[edit] 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 II, excluding descendants of princesses who marry foreigners) 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 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.

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 Len Cook determined that a civil marriage would in fact be valid, the Human Rights Act 1998 apparently superseding any previously enacted legislation barring members of the royal family from civil marriages.

[edit] Divorce

Main article: Divorce in the United Kingdom

Divorce is allowed on various grounds. In England and Wales the operative statute is the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and the grounds are

• adultery
• unreasonable behaviour
• desertion (two years)
• separation, agreed divorce (two years)
• separation, contested divorce (five years)

Civil re-marriage is allowed. Religions and demoninations differ on whether they permit religious re-marriage.

[edit] See also

• English Law
• Fleet Marriage
• Civil Partnership