More in-depth information for officials, couples and faith leaders

Officials

Check back later for more information from
Register Our Marriage for officials.

Couples

PRE-NUPTIAL AND POST-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

A pre-nuptial agreement is a contract entered into before marriage which outlines how a couple wish to divide their money and property if they get divorced. A post-nuptial agreement is similar but entered into after marriage. Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements are now legally binding unless considered to be unfair by the court. You should get legal advice if you are thinking about entering into one of these agreements.

HOW TO MARRY

You can get married by a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony. In both cases, the following legal requirements must be met:

- The marriage must be conducted by a person or in the presence of a person authorised to register marriages in the district the marriage must be entered in - The marriage register and signed by both parties, two witnesses, the person who conducted the ceremony and, if that person is not authorised to register marriages, the person who is registering the marriage.

Civil Marriage Ceremonies

Giving Notice

You and your partner must give notice of marriage in your local Register Office, whether or not you wish to marry in that district. The Superintendent Registrar, or Registrar in Northern Ireland, then issues authority for the marriage and you may marry in any Register Office or local authority approved premises in any district. In England and Wales, 28 days notice must be given to the Register Office before the marriage can take place. Both partners must be resident for seven days in England or Wales before notice is given. A notice must state where the marriage is to take place. There is a fee for giving notice.

If one of the partners has been issued with a gender recognition certificate and was previously the civil partner of the person who they wish to marry, there is no requirement for the 28 day notice period. In this case, notice of the marriage and the marriage itself can happen on the same day. If you or your partner are not citizens of an European Economic Area country, you'll have to submit evidence of your immigration status when you give notice to marry. In the period between the notice of intention to marry and the ceremony, anyone with strong grounds for objecting to the marriage can do so. Making a false statement is a criminal offence.

Faith Leaders

Our Faith Leaders training pack is in development. Please check back later for more.

In the meantime, we have created two handy flowcharts for those who are looking to conduct religious marriage ceremonies to ensure they are legally recognised.

Perform and register a marriage as an authorised person (AP)

Download a pdf of the chart

How to register a building for marriage ceremonies and appoint an authorised person (AP)

Download a pdf of the chart

If you’d like to know more information, please send us an enquiry via our Contact page and we’ll get back to you

Testimonials

I have supported this campaign for the past few years and it has made a real difference on the ground. It is led by credible people who are known to the community and I wish it every success.

Qari Asim, Chairman, Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board

I am delighted to be supporting ROM because the Catholic church also has to volunteer to register their marriages and we want all faiths to be covered under marriage law equally.

Neil Addison, Barrister, Liverpool

ROM's works are absolutely crucial to safeguarding women of all faith backgrounds from the pain and abuse a non-registered marriage can lead to. We are honoured to be supporting their fantastic efforts to ensure women feel safe, secure and protected by all agencies, when and if they choose to marry.

Onjali Rauf, Founder & CEO, Making Herstory

I am privileged to be supporting such an important campaign that seeks to raise awareness of the importance of registering a marriage, based on the principles of justice, respect and equality; principles that are central to my faith and personal values.

 

Yasmin Surti, Secretary for the Federation of Muslim Organisations, Leicestershire

It would be great to have a similar movement in the US as unfortunately, we see a fair amount of Islamic marriages without legalization with the intent to deprive a woman of her rights by law. 

 

Requisite Draper, Attorney, Detroit Michigan USA

I am fully in support of this important initiative to require religious marriages to be registered under the law and offer the same safeguards and protection to all faith communities alike. 

Nabila Fowles-Gutierrez, Founder of Divorce Survival

Thank you for all the hard work you have done for bringing the ROM and other topics to life and the need to carry on and network with more and more as we go along. 

Najma Begum, ISW Consultant / EPIC Founder