When a divorce petition is sent to court, one of the requirements is to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate. For a marriage which has taken place in England it’s the green paper certificate.
One of the formalities when a couple marry in England is that the full name and address of the father of each party is stated in the register (and on the certificate issued). This has been the case since 1837.
The Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill[i] which had its second reading in Parliament at the beginning of February 2018 aims to modernise this by allowing the names of both parents of the couple to be included on marriage and civil partnership certificates – instead of just their fathers.
The Bill also aims to modernise the process from a solely paper-based system to an electronic register.
As about 250,000 couples get married each year, it is time this outdated tradition, which only allows the fathers names on the certificates, be abandoned in favour of a system reflecting modern society.
The Bill also provides that opposite sex couples may enter a civil partnership; to make provision about the registration of stillborn deaths and to give coroners the power to investigate stillborn deaths.
[i] Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill as introduced in
the House of Commons on 19 July 2017 (Bill 11))
This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.
