It’s our legal duty to make sure your ceremony is carried out in accordance with the law, and we will guide you through the legal formalities before and on the day of your ceremony. Here’s a summary of what’s required.
More information can also be found here.
Legal informationMarriages & Civil Partnerships
After deciding where you would like your marriage or civil partnership to take place, the preliminaries are the same – you are both required to ‘Give Notice’ and this should be within no more than 12 months of the date of your ceremony. The minimum notice period is 28 days, although we don’t recommend you leave it until the last day just in case there are any issues or delays.
Both of you must ‘Give Notice’ in the district that you live in, even if your ceremony is to take place in a different area.
If you have difficulty understanding or speaking English you will need an interpreter for your appointment and ceremony.
Name
You will need to provide proof of your current name, using any one of the following:
- Current Passport
- Birth Certificate
- Driving Licence
You will be asked if you have been known by other legal names – If YES, you will need to provide evidence of the name change, for example deed poll or a change of name deed.
Nationality
You will need to provide proof of your nationality using any one of the following:
- Current Passport
- Full Birth Certificate if born before 1983 – if you were born in 1983 or later and are using your birth certificate for your nationality, you will also need your Mother’s birth certificate or passport
Divorced - Dissolution
If either of you has had a former marriage or civil partnership, you will need to provide proof using one of the following:
- Death Certificate if spouse is deceased
- Decree absolute with court stamp
- Dissolution with court stamp
If your divorce or dissolution was granted outside the UK you will need to pay an extra fee for the processing of the validity of those documents. If any of the documents are not in English, you will need to provide a full translation along with the name and contact details of the translator.
If you reverted back to your maiden name but your decree absolute is in your former married name, you will need to provide your marriage certificate so we can see the link.
Date of Birth
Proof of your date of birth is needed, and you can use any one of the following:
- Current Passport
- Birth Certificate
- Driving Licence
Residency
You will be required to show that you have lived at your current address for more than 7 days, and this can be proved by using one of the following:
- Current Driving Licence (including provisional)
- Bank Statement showing your full name, dated within one month of the date of your appointment
- Latest Council Tax bill showing your full name
- A utility bill (gas, electric, water) dated within three months of the date of your appointment
(This list is not exhaustive and requirements may be subject to change)
Foreign National
If you are not British you may be subject to Immigration Control, and giving notice may require further documents including:
- Proof of settlement status – share code
- Marriage/Civil Partnership visa
- Indefinite Leave to Remain
Should one or both parties not have relevant immigration status you will be referred, and your waiting period may increase from 28 days to 70 days. Extra fees will be charged, and you may be required to provide a passport sized photo.