If you wish to marry in Scotland
you may do so either by civil or religious ceremony.
A civil ceremony can only take place at a register office.
A religious ceremony may take place at anytime and at any location providing the
minister (who must be authorized to undertake marriages under The Marriage
(Scotland) Act 1977) is in agreement.
Forbidden Marriages
You must not be related to each other in a way that is forbidden by Law
Minimum Age
The minimum legal age for getting married is 16 years old. In Scotland parental
consent is not required for persons who have not reached 18 years old.
Sex
It is a legal requirement in Scotland (All the United Kingdom) that one partner
must have been born a male and the other a female.
Witnesses
Two witnesses need to be present over the age of 16 years old.
Consent
Both partners must be acting by their own consent.
Sound Mind
Both partners to be married must be of sufficiently sound mind to understand the
nature of the marriage contract.
Second and subsequent marriages
There is no limit to the number of marriages you can enter into providing you
are free to do so. That is you are widowed or have been divorced and granted a
decree absolute. Evidence will be required to be produced i.e. original death
certificate or divorce absolute certificate with the original court seal.
(photocopies are not acceptable)
Procedure
There is no residential requirement in Scotland and the partners may be married
in any church or register office they choose.
Civil marriages may only be conducted in a register office. Religious marriages
may be conducted anywhere at the discretion of the authorized person.
Civil Marriages
The ceremony may be conducted by a registrar or an assistant registrar The
wedding will take place during the opening hours of the register office
concerned. These are normally 9.00 am to 4.00 pm Monday to Friday and 9.00 am to
1.00 pm on Saturday.
Religious Marriages
A religious ceremony may take place at anytime and at any location providing the
minister (who must be authorized to undertake marriages under The Marriage
(Scotland) Act 1977) is in agreement.
Marriage Schedule
A marriage notice form must be obtained from a registrar of births marriages and
deaths in Scotland. Both partners must provide details of their names,
addresses, sex and marital status.
The couple are required to submit notices of marriage to the Registrar of the
District that the marriage will take place. The notice has to be given in the
three month period prior to the wedding and not later than 15 days before the
wedding. In order to allow the Registrar sufficient time to satisfy himself that
the couple are free to marry the notices should be submitted four weeks prior to
the wedding and six weeks prior to the wedding if either partners has been
previously married.
The registrar will prepare the marriage schedule. If the ceremony will take
place in his office he will keep it. If the wedding is to be held elsewhere, one
of the partners must collect it in person not more than one week before the
wedding.
After the ceremony, the schedule must be signed by two witnesses and the
minister who conducted the wedding. This has to be returned to the Registrar
within three days.
Arrangements should also be made with the church or register office where the
ceremony will take place.
Documents needed
When you visit the Registrar or Minister to make the formal arrangements you
will need to produce certain documents, for example if you have been married
before a decree absolute of divorce bearing the court's original stamp, or if
your previous spouse has died a certificate of death.
It would also be useful if you if your birth certificate or passport (or some
identity document) could be produced. Photocopies are unlikely to be accepted.
If you are living outside the UK then you should produce a certificate of no
impediment to marriage, stating that you are free to marry. This should be
obtained from the competent authority in your country (If the document is not in
English a certified translation should be made)
If you are not able to provide any of the above documents the Registrar will
explain what other documents may be acceptable.
