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Marriage Act 1949

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Changes over time for: Cross Heading: Preliminary

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Version Superseded: 04/05/2021

Status:

Point in time view as at 27/03/2021.

Changes to legislation:

Marriage Act 1949, Cross Heading: Preliminary is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 22 November 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations. Help about Changes to Legislation

PreliminaryE+W

5 Methods of authorising marriages.E+W

[F1(1)]A marriage according to the rites of the Church of England may be solemnized—

(a)after the publication of banns of matrimony;

(b)on the authority of a special licence of marriage granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury or any other person by virtue of the M1Ecclesiastical Licences Act, 1533 (in this Act referred to as a “special licence”);

(c)on the authority of a licence of marriage (other than a special licence) granted by an ecclesiastical authority having power to grant such a licence (in this Act referred to as a “common licence”); or

(d)on the authority of [F2certificates] issued by a superintendent registrar under Part III of this Act.

[F3[F4(2)Subsection (1)(a)] of this section shall not apply in relation to the solemnization of any marriage mentioned in subsection (2) of section 1 of this Act.]

[F5(3)In a case where one or both of the persons whose marriage is to be solemnized is not a relevant national—

(a)subsection (1)(a) shall not apply unless the banns are published in accordance with section 14 (whether or not the banns are also published otherwise);

(b)subsection (1)(c) shall not apply.]

[F65A Marriages between certain persons related by affinity.E+W

No clergyman shall be obliged—

(a)to solemnize a marriage which, apart from the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act 1986 [F7or the Marriage Act 1949 (Remedial) Order 2007], would have been void by reason of the relationship of the persons to be married; or

(b)to permit such a marriage to be solemnized in the church or chapel of which he is the minister.]

[F85BMarriages involving person of acquired genderE+W

(1)A clergyman is not obliged to solemnise the marriage of a person if the clergyman reasonably believes that the person’s gender has become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

(2)A clerk in Holy Orders of the Church in Wales is not obliged to permit the marriage of a person to be solemnised in the church or chapel of which the clerk is the minister if the clerk reasonably believes that the person’s gender has become the acquired gender under that Act.]

Textual Amendments

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