Marriage Act 1949

28 Declaration to accompany notice of marriage. E+W

(1) No certificate or licence for marriage shall be issued by a superintendent registrar unless the notice of marriage is accompanied by a solemn declaration in writing, in the body or at the foot of the notice, made and signed at the time of the giving of the notice by the person by whom the notice is given and attested as mentioned in subsection (2) of this section—

(a) that he or she believes that there is no impediment of kindred or alliance or other lawful hindrance to the marriage;

(b) in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized without licence, that the persons to be married have for the period of seven days immediately before the giving of the notice had their usual places of residence within the registration district or registration districts in which notice is given, or, in the case of a marriage intended to be solemnized by licence, that one of the persons to be married has for the period of fifteen days immediately before the giving of the notice had his or her usual place of residence within the registration district in which notice is given;

(c) where one of the persons to be married is [F1 an infant][F1 a child] and is not a widower or widow, that the consent of the person or persons whose consent to the marriage is required under section three of this Act has been obtained, that the necessity of obtaining any such consent has been dispensed with under that section, that the court has consented to the marriage under that section, or that there is no person whose consent to the marriage is so required.

(2) Any such declaration as aforesaid shall be signed by the person giving the notice of marriage in the presence of the superintendent registrar to whom the notice is given or his deputy, or in the presence of a registrar of births and deaths or of marriages for the registration district in which the person giving the notice resides or his deputy, and that superintendent registrar, deputy superintendent registrar, registrar or deputy registrar, as the case may be, shall attest the declaration by adding thereto his name, description and place of residence.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words “a child” substituted (E.W.) for words “an infant” by Family Law Reform Act 1987 (c. 42 SIF 49:7), ss. 33(1), 34(2)(5), Sch. 2 para. 9

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 28 except para. 1(b) applied with modification by Marriage (Registrar General's Licence) Act 1970 (c. 34), s. 2(3)

C2 S. 28(1) applied with modification by Marriage (Scotland) Act 1956 (c. 70), s. 1(2)(c)