Legal Weddings FAQs
1. How do you legally marry in England and Wales?
A Nikah only ceremony is not a legal religious wedding. If you only have a Nikah ceremony conducted in England and Wales, you will not be considered legally married here. You will be treated as a cohabiting couple.
A legally binding wedding gives a couple certain rights in law regarding property, children, financial assets, taxation and inheritance. There are no equivalent family law rights for cohabitating couples.
As a cohabiting couple, you will not have the same rights as a legally married couple. For example, you will not automatically be considered ‘Next of Kin’ where this may apply and fathers will not have automatic parental rights unless they are named on a child’s birth certificate. You will not be entitled to inherit automatically and will have no avenue for financial resolution through the family courts if the relationship breaks down. For more information, please go to Non-Legally Binding Weddings.
A Nikah conducted abroad will only be legally recognised in England and Wales if it was legally recognised and registered in the country where it took place. If you are unsure about your relationship status, please seek legal advice.
2. What is a legal civil marriage?
3. What is a legal religious marriage?
- A Church of England wedding
- A Jewish wedding
- A Society of Friends (Quaker) wedding
- A religious wedding of any other religion
Each of these religious weddings has specific requirements which must be met to be legally recognised. A Nikah wedding alone does not meet the requirements for a legal religious marriage. To be recognised in the law of England and Wales, it must take place in a place of worship registered for weddings and requires a legally binding ceremony to be conducted in addition to the Nikah, in the presence of an ‘authorised person’ or a Registrar.
4. Who can marry in English Law?
5. What relatives am I not allowed to marry?
- mother
- adopted mother
- former adoptive mother
- daughter
- adoptive daughter
- former adoptive daughter
- grandmother
- granddaughter
- sister
- aunt
- niece
A woman cannot marry her:
- father
- adopted father
- former adoptive father
- son
- adoptive son
- former adoptive son
- grandfather
- grandson
- brother
- uncle
- nephew
There are also some restrictions regarding marrying a ‘step’ relative or a relative ‘in-law’. It would be advisable to seek legal advice if you need it.
6. What does ‘giving notice’ mean and what needs to be done?
You must ‘give notice’ at your local register office by signing a legal statement that you intend to marry. Regardless of where you plan to marry, you must still give notice to your local register office.
You need to book your venue beforehand as you will need to provide information about the date and venue of your wedding when giving notice and you must marry at the time and venue you specify in the notice.
You must ‘give notice’ at least 29 days before the planned ceremony date and not more than 12 months before that date. If you need to change the venue or move the date outside the validity period, you must give notice again at least 28 clear days before the date of the ceremony.
If one or both of you needs approval to get married from the Home Office due to your immigration status, your notice period will be longer. Up to date information is available on the government website: www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/from-outside-the-uk-or-ireland.
7. Where do the two parties ‘give notice’?
Both parties need to give notice at their own local register offices and attend an appointment in person. If one or both parties is subject to immigration control, you will need to ‘give notice’ of marriage or civil partnership together at a district where either one or both parties live. You need to have been living in an area for at least seven days before you can ‘give notice’ to marry at the local register office there.
8. What documents do I need to ‘give notice’?
It is important to check with your local register office, but generally, it is likely that you will need the following documents:
- The date and time you have booked for the legal wedding ceremony and the name and address of your venue
- A valid passport or birth certificate
- Proof of your address, such as a utility bill or tenancy agreement
- Proof of any past name changes (if applicable), such as a copy of a deed poll
- Proof of your divorce (decree absolute or final order), or your former spouse’s death certificate, if you have been married before
If you or your partner is from outside the UK, you will need to provide additional documents. Your local register office will be able to specify what these are.
Information about the fee will be available on your local council’s website.
9. Where can a legally valid wedding ceremony take place?
- a register office
- approved premises – indoor or outdoor
- an Anglican Church (i.e. a Church belonging to the Church of England and Wales)
- any registered place of worship which is registered to conduct weddings
You can find a list of approved venues on the gov.uk website or check with your local council:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-marriages-and-partnerships-approved-premises-list
Some, but not all mosques are registered places of worship where a legally valid ceremony can be performed.
10. Who can perform the legal wedding ceremony?
A legal religious wedding ceremony (conducted at a place of worship registered for legally binding weddings) can be conducted by an ‘authorised person’ or a Registrar. An authorised person must be registered with the Registrar General. You can check who is authorised with your local authority or register office. This might be an Imam or other religious cleric, for example.
For a civil (non-religious) wedding ceremony, a Superintendent Registrar and Registrar are needed to conduct the service whether this takes place at a register office or on approved premises.
11. Does a woman need to take her husband’s surname after marriage?
A woman does not need to change her name after marriage and can keep her maiden name. In Muslim traditions, a woman usually retains her father’s family name after marriage.
The marriage schedule has the details of the bride’s maiden name and does not indicate what surname she will use after marriage. If a woman wants to change her name after marriage, she can apply for a new passport with the marriage certificate and then use her updated passport to inform other relevant authorities, such as her employers, HMRC, the DWP, etc.