The Family Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1984

Restrictions on marriage N.I.

Prohibited degrees of relationship N.I.

18.—(1) A marriage solemnized [F1 between a person and any person mentioned in the list in Part 1 of the following Table]F1 , is void:

Table

[F1 PART I[F1 Prohibited degrees of relationshipF1 ]]

[F1 F1 Adoptive childF1 ]

[F1 Adoptive parentF1 ]

[F1 ChildF1 ]

[F1 Former adoptive childF1 ]

[F1 Former adoptive parentF1 ]

[F1 GrandparentF1 ]

[F1 GrandchildF1 ]

[F1 ParentF1 ]

[F1 Parent's siblingF1 ]

[F1 SiblingF1 ]

[F1 Sibling's childF1 ]

[F1 PART IIF1 ][F1 Degrees of affinity referred to in paragraphs (2A) and (2B)F1 ]

[F1 Child of former civil partnerF1 ]

[F1 Child of former spouseF1 ]

[F1 Former civil partner of grandparentF1 ]

[F1 Former civil partner of parentF1 ]

[F1 Former spouse of grandparentF1 ]

[F1 Former spouse of parentF1 ]

[F1 Grandchild of former civil partnerF1 ]

[F1 Grandchild of former spouseF1 ]

[F2 PART IIIF2 ][F2 Degrees of affinity referred to in paragraphs (2C) and (2D)F2 ]

[F2 Mother of former wifeF2 ]	[F2 Father of former husbandF2 ]
[F2 Former wife of sonF2 ]	[F2 Former husband of daughterF2 ]

(2) In that Table—

(a) any reference to an adoptive relationship or a former adoptive relationship is to a relationship which arises or arose in consequence of—

(i) an order authorising an adoption made (whether before or after the commencement of this Article) in any part of the United Kingdom, in the Isle of Man or in any of the Channel Islands, or

(ii) a foreign adoption as defined in section 4(3) of the [1969 c. 22 (N.I.).] Adoption (Hague Convention) Act (Northern Ireland) 1969;

(b) any reference to a[F1 sibling]F1 includes one of the half blood as well as of the whole blood;

(c) [F2 in Part II,]F2 any reference to a relationship which is one of affinity is to a relationship deduced through a marriage[F1 or civil partnership]F1 which has been terminated by dissolution or by death;

(d) any reference to a person of a particular relationship includes a person who would rank as being of that relationship if he, or some other person through whom the relationship is deduced, had been born legitimate.

[F2 (2A) Subject to paragraph (2B), a marriage solemnized[F1 between a person and any person mentioned in the list in Part 2 of that Table]F1 , is void.

(2B) Any such marriage as is mentioned in paragraph (2A) is not void by reason only of affinity if both the parties to the marriage have attained the age of 21 at the time of the marriage and the younger party has not at any time before attaining the age of 18 been a child of the family in relation to the other party.

(2C) Subject to paragraph (2D), a marriage solemnizedF3 between a man and any of the persons mentioned in the first column of Part III of that Table, or between a woman and any of the persons mentioned in the second column of that Part III, is void.

(2D) Any such marriage as is mentioned in paragraph (2C) is not void by reason only of affinity if both the parties to the marriage have attained the age of 21 at the time of the marriage and the marriage is solemnized—

F3 (a) in the case of a marriage between a man and the mother of a former wife of his, after the death of both the former wife and the father of the former wife;

F3 (b) in the case of a marriage between a man and the former wife of his son, after the death of both his son and the mother of his son;

F3 (c) in the case of a marriage between a woman and the father of a former husband of hers, after the death of both the former husband and the mother of the former husband;

F3 (d) in the case of a marriage between a woman and a former husband of her daughter, after the death of both her daughter and the father of her daughter.

[F4 (2DA) Paragraph (2D) and Parts 2 and 3 of the Table in paragraph (1) have effect subject to the following modifications in the case of a party to a marriage whose gender has become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 ( “the relevant person”).

(2DB) Any reference in those provisions to a former wife or former husband of the relevant person includes (respectively) any former husband or former wife of the relevant person.

(2DC) And—

(a) the reference in paragraph (2D)(b) to the relevant person's son's mother is to the relevant person's son's father if the relevant person is the son's mother, and

(b) the reference in paragraph (2D)(d) to the relevant person's daughter's father is to the relevant person's daughter's mother if the relevant person is the daughter's father.]

F4 (2E) In this Article “child of the family”, in relation to any person, means a child who has lived in the same household as that person and been treated by that person as a child of his family.]

F2 (3) A marriage between person not within the degrees of relationship to which[F2 paragraph (1), (2A) or (2C) applies or a marriage to which paragraph (2B) or (2D) applies]F2 is void, if either of those persons is at the time of the marriage domiciled in a country other than Northern Ireland and under the law of that country there cannot be a valid marriage between them because of their relationship to each other.

F1 2004 c.33

F2 1993 NI 6

F3 prosp. subst. by 2004 c.33

F4 2004 c.7