Marriage - Giving notice
It is a legal requirement to give notice of your intention to get married. Before making arrangements to give notice, please refer to the information about satisfying legal requirements and the documentation you will need to provide. You should also have decided ion a venue before you attend to give notice since this is detailed on the marriage notice and cannot be altered. If the venue changes you will both have to give notice again and wait for a period of 15 clear days before the ceremony can take place.
Where to give notice
Both of you must live in a registration district in England or Wales for a period of 7 days before giving notice at the register office. If you both live in the same registration district then you can attend together to give notice.
You cannot Give Notice until you have confirmed the venue where the ceremony will take place.
If you both live in separate registration districts then you will need to give notice separately at the appropriate registration office in the district in which you live. Each person should give separate notice and this must be made in person (no-one can give notice on your behalf).
You must take all of the required documents with you when you attend to give notice, otherwise it will not be possible to proceed.
Once given, your notices are displayed on the notice board in the register office for a period of fifteen days.
The notice is a legal document and states for each person:
- Name and surname
- Age
- Condition (current marital status)
- Address
- Occupation
- Nationality
- Intended marriage venue
After giving notice, you must wait fifteen clear days before the marriage or civil partnership can take place. For example, if notice is given on 1st June, the earliest day that you could be married or have your civil partnership would be the 17th June. Once given, the notice is valid for a period of twelve months.
A notice does not permit you to be married . You are only entitled to marry when:
- Registration services have completed cross checks between notices;
- Both of you have provided all of the necessary documentation;
- At least 15 calendar days have passed since the notice was put on display;
- No legal objections to the marriage or civil partnership, and;
- The Superintendent Registrar has issued the Certificate of Authority for the marriage or civil partnership to go ahead.
Issue of authority
Once you have given notice it must be displayed on a public notice board at the register office for a period of 15 days before the marriage authority can be issued. If you are having your ceremony within Staffordshire then your authority is sent directly to the registration office who will be conducting your ceremony. If you are having your ceremony outside Staffordshire or you are having a religious ceremony in a building that maintains its own registers then the authority is must be collected from the Register Office where you have given notice.
It is your responsibility to deliver the authority to the registrar of the district where your ceremony is taking place or to the authorised person at the religious building where your ceremony is to take place. It is advisable to do this before the date of the actual ceremony.
Where to give notice
You both need to give notice of your intention to marry at your local register office. If you plan on getting married in a different area, you also need to contact the register office for the district in which you intend to get married. This is because you will need to make sure that a Superintendent Registrar (to conduct the marriage service) and a Registrar of Marriages (to record the details in the marriage register and to issue you with your certificate) are free to attend your chosen venue on the date of your ceremony.
You both need to give notice of your intention to marry individually and in person. No one else can give notice on your behalf.
If you or the person you are intending to marry are subject to immigration controls then you will only be able to give notice to marry at specially designated register offices and you must attend together. There are 76 designated register offices in England and Wales.
Last Modified:
27/06/2007 14:01:49
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