Getting Married The legal and paperwork stuff

Legal Requirements & Documents for MARRIAGE

Thank you for considering me to be the Authorised Marriage Celebrant at your wedding. In that role, I am a legally authorized person ( since 2013) who can solemnise your marriage, and that authority comes under the Marriage Act 1961 and Marriage Regulations 2017. legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00441
legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L01359

As a celebrant I have to carry out all the legal and ‘paper work’ requirements, respect the importance of the marriage ceremony, not discriminate in anyway& I must respect your privacy and confidentiality. All part of observing the laws of the Commonwealth and the State or Territory (Births Deaths and Marriages BDM ) where you marriage ceremony is solemnized.

SOLEMNISATION OF MARRIAGES IN AUSTRALIA

ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Pages/Getting-married.aspx

To be legally married in Australia, a person must:

  • not be married to someone else
  • not be marrying a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister
  • be at least 18 years old, unless a court has approved a marriage where one party is aged between 16 and 18 years old
  • understand what marriage means and freely consent to marrying
  • use specific words during the ceremony
  • give written notice of their intention to marry to their authorised celebrant, within the required time frame.

You don’t have to be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia to legally marry here. You can find marriage visa information on the Department of Home Affairs website, if you hope to live in Australia after your marriage. I recommend that foreign nationals check with authorities in their own countries prior to entering into a marriage in Australia. Some overseas countries do not recognise a marriage entered into in Australia as valid, unless other requirements, such as the prior granting of permission from that country’s embassy, are fulfilled. This can have implications for foreign nationals who intend to return to their country following a marriage.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MARRIAGE & DOCUMENTS

As part of my role as a celebrant, and yourselves as the couple in the wedding, certain documents have to be filled out and completed with accurate information, so that we can ensure that your marriage is legal and that you can actually get married.

1. Firstly we fill out a Notice of Intended Marriage NOIM. A completed Notice of Intended Marriage form must be given to me, at least one month before the wedding and no earlier than 18 months beforehand.

  • I can help you complete the form. The notice may be completed and witnessed outside Australia if required.
  • Talk to me if there is less than one month before your wedding. A prescribed authority may approve a shorter notice time in some limited circumstances.
  • You will need to give me evidence of date and place of birth, photo identity and the documents proving end of any previous marriages,( by divorce or death ) for each party. I may also ask you to complete a statutory declaration to support your evidence.

This can be done either at our ‘face to face’ appointment or ideally via the information you email back to me, completed on a draft NOIM, before our meeting. I will thus complete as much of the information as possible, entered directly into the Births Deaths & Marriages BDM Victoria website to enable lodgement, printable copies and efficient submission of forms, after the wedding.

ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Documents/New-notice-of-intended-marriage.pdf

Other documents may be required if you have been married before or you don’t have an Australian Birth certificate, and in some other circumstances eg need an Interpreter . LINK
We can then begin to plan your wedding! (See wedding ceremonies) Link

2. ‘Happily Ever Before and After’ Information for couples planning to marry

As your celebrant I am obliged to give you this document because the decision to marry is one of the biggest decisions a couple can make, which will bring a number of changes for you, your spouse and your family. This document tells you:

  • the process of getting married in Australia,
  • some important legal consequences of getting married, and
  • where relationship support services, such as pre – marriage education, family counselling or dispute resolution services may be obtained.

Before marriage: Marriage Education. Solid relationships set you up to meet the changes and challenges of life. It is important to develop good communication and sound relationship skills early, so that you can fall back on these skills during difficult times. Pre-marriage education prepares couples for marriage by providing skills and information to build lifelong marriages. Courses are also available to explore the added dimension and complexity brought to a marriage by children from a previous relationship.

ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Documents/happily-ever-before-and-after.pdf

Translations: ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Pages/Forms.aspx

3. Just before the wedding

Usually at the rehearsal, (or just before the wedding if a simpler ceremony ) you sign another document that basically states you are both free to marry, that is, you are not already married, you are over 18 and not related to each other. This is called the ‘Declaration of no legal impediment to marriage form’

ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Documents/Declaration%20of%20no%20legal%20impediment%20to%20marriage.PDF

4. When and where and with whom can a marriage be solemnized?

A marriage may be solemnised on any day, at any time and at any place. It need not necessarily be solemnised in a building. The marriage must be solemnised in Australia, (or within Australian territorial waters).

  • It must have witnesses

Under section 44, a marriage may not be solemnised unless there are present as witnesses at least two persons who are over the age of 18 years. The object of requiring the attendance of witnesses is that their evidence will be available, should the occasion arise, to establish the identity of the parties or to testify as to the circumstances in which the ceremony was performed.It is, therefore, most desirable that the witnesses should be persons who know the parties to the marriage. This is the responsibility of the parties to the marriage.

At the ceremony

  • We all sign, with your witnesses, three marriage certificates on the day –
  • Each certificate will be signed by you, your celebrant and two witnesses.
    • The ‘decorative’ marriage certificate which is yours to keep, and I must hand this to one of you . ( It’s not the same as a standard marriage certificate and generally can’t be used for official purposes as proof of your marriage).
    • And 2 official marriage certificates forms.
      ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Marriage/Documents/official-certificate-of-marriage.pdf
      See further about obtaining the official marriage certificate from BDM Vic) .

5. The Ceremony : Legal Requirements
Under Australian law the marriage ceremony has to include certain parts including certain formal words.

These are the Monitum and the Vows, and the signing and witnessing of the certificates.

I, as the, Authorised Marriage Celebrant, and no other person in the ceremony, am obligated to say these certain words explaining the nature of the marriage relationship in all marriage ceremonies they perform (section 46 of the Marriage Act).

Which are as follows:

  • MONITUM said before the Vows:

I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law.
Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

  • VOWS said by yourselves:

Civil marriage ceremony. Subsection 45(2) of the Marriage Act sets out the vows required to be said by parties to a civil marriage ceremony (where the authorised celebrant is not a minister of religion).
‘I call upon the persons here present to witness that I, A.B. (or C.D.), take thee, C.D. (or A.B.), to be my lawful wedded wife (or husband, or spouse)’.

The ceremony is worked around these minimum requirements according to your wishes and my suggestions. Link to Wedding ceremonies

6. Proof of marriage & after you are married

After the ceremony
One of the Marriage certificates and the ‘Declaration of No legal impediment to marriage .form’ and the NOIM, are sent to the registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) by myself online to BDM within 14 days.

I keep a copy of the other marriage certificate in a register of these certificates securely.
(see my Privacy and Confidentiality Policy).

The certificate issued by the registry of births, deaths and marriages is required for many official purposes.
Once your marriage is registered with BDM, you can apply for a standard marriage certificate.

bdm.vic.gov.au/marriages-and-relationships/get-a-marriage-certificate

Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria
GPO Box 4332
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Ground floor, 595 Collins Street Melbourne
(near Southern Cross Station)
Hours: 8am – 4pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays)
1300 369 367 (within Australia)
+61 3 9613 5111 (overseas callers)

OPTION 2 Simple Type Ceremony in my office or in nearby park, near my office

$400.00 (cheaper than peak Fri Sat Sun, BDM marriage cost)
A deposit of $200 to be paid when you lodge the Notice of Intention to Marry. This is non-refundable. The full fee is to be paid within 14 days of the NOIM lodgement.
completion of legal requirements

  • Completion and lodgement of the Notice of Intention to Marry Form (NOIM)
  • x1 Meeting with the bride and groom – initial NOIM and discussion of ceremony, date & time.
  • Basic ceremony developed with legalities and brief personalised comments
  • Preparing and completing all the certificates
  • Registration of legal documents with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM).
  • All correspondence
  • Communicating with you by phone and/or email (& liaison with Migration agent as required).
  • Stationery, postage and printing costs.
  • Use of signing table and table cloth
  • Ceremonial certificate of marriage.
  • Meeting 1 hour prior to ceremony to complete documentation.
  • Officiating at your wedding ceremony on the day

Additional Costs Apply For

  • Travel and accommodation expenses out of metropolitan area. greater than 50 k’s from my office in East Brunswick
  • There is an additional cost for extra time or additional rehearsals at your wedding venue or other location depending upon distance and travelling time. ($100 – $150) .
  • Formal correspondence for NOIM /Department of Home Affairs visa applications $100, unless there are more complex requirements

Refund policy
The $250 deposit “Booking Fee” (or “For a Notice of Intended Marriage” fee) is not refundable – unless I am unable to solemnise the marriage on the arranged ceremony day, and am unable to arrange for a substitute celebrant.

The $500 fee known as the “In respect of solemnisation of marriage by authorised civil marriage celebrant” fee (which must be paid no later than 14 days before the arranged ceremony day) is refundable only if written notice of cancellation of the marriage is given to me not less than 14 days before the arranged ceremony day OR if I am unable to solemnise the marriage on the arranged ceremony day and am not able to arrange for a substitute celebrant.

Fees paid (or payable) in respect of visit to the venue and/or travels costs exceeding 50km in a return journey between my base and the place of marriage are not refundable or waivable.