The Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Amendments to the Registration of Marriages Regulations 2015

5.  After regulation 9 insert—

“Form of marriage schedule

9A.— (1) The form of a marriage schedule to be issued under section 31(2) of the Act, other than a marriage schedule for a marriage intended to be solemnized in the presence of a superintendent registrar and a registrar, is—

(a) form 11A if the schedule is issued in England;

(b) form 11A(w) if the schedule is issued in Wales.

(2) The form of a marriage schedule to be issued under section 31(2) of the Act for a marriage intended to be solemnized in the presence of a superintendent registrar and a registrar is—

(a) form 11B if the schedule is issued in England;

(b) form 11B(w) if the schedule is issued in Wales.

Prescribed content of marriage schedule: particulars about the condition of the parties

9B.— (1) A superintendent registrar required to issue a marriage schedule under section 31(2) of the Act must enter the particulars required in space 4 (condition of the parties) on form 11A, 11A(w), 11B or 11B(w) (as the case may be) in accordance with this regulation.

(2) The superintendent registrar must enter, in relation to each party to the proposed marriage separately (in the column relating to that party), the word or words required by whichever entry in column (3) of the table in this regulation corresponds to the entry in column (2) of that table describing the condition of that party or the circumstances.

(3) But the requirement of paragraph (2) to enter particulars in relation to each party separately is subject to paragraph (4), which applies where—

(a) the circumstances are those in column (2) of row 4, 9, 10, 13 or 14 of the table; or

(b) the circumstances are those in column (2) of row 11, 12, 15 or 16 of the table and the corresponding entry in column (3) requires words to be entered in the form of a single entry in relation to both parties.

(4) Where this paragraph applies, the superintendent registrar must enter the words required by the relevant entry in column (3) of the table in the form of a single entry relating to both parties across both columns of space 4 (instead of entering those words in relation to each party separately).

(5) The superintendent registrar must not enter anything in space 4 other than the word or words required by this regulation.

(1) Row number	(2) Condition of party or circumstances	(3) Word(s) to enter in space 4
1.	Party has not previously been married or formed a civil partnership.	“Single”.
2.	Party’s previous marriage was terminated by death.	“Widow” or “Widower” (as the case may be).
3.	Party’s previous civil partnership was terminated by death.	“Surviving civil partner”.
4.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of marriage with each other (other than a marriage known to have been null and void), (b) neither party has since married, or formed a civil partnership with, a third party, and (c) the purpose of performing the proposed marriage ceremony is the avoidance of doubt as to the validity of the previous ceremony.	“Previously went through a form of marriage at … on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous ceremony).
5.	Party’s previous marriage was terminated by divorce (except where the circumstances are those in column (2) of row 9 or 11).	“Previous marriage dissolved”.
6.	Party’s previous marriage was annulled on the ground that the marriage was voidable (except where the circumstances are those in column (2) of row 10 or 12).	“Previous marriage annulled”.
7.	Party’s previous civil partnership was terminated by dissolution (except where the circumstances are those in column (2) of row 13 or 15).	“Previous civil partnership dissolved”.
8.	Party’s previous civil partnership was annulled on the grounds that the civil partnership was voidable (except where the circumstances are those in column (2) of row 14 or 16).	“Previous civil partnership annulled”.
9.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of marriage with each other (other than a marriage known to have been null and void), (b) the marriage was terminated by divorce, (c) neither party has since married, or formed a civil partnership with, a third party, and (d) neither party has been issued with a full gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 since the solemnization of the parties’ previous marriage.	“Previously married at … on … Marriage dissolved on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous marriage and the date of its dissolution).
10.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of marriage with each other (other than a marriage known to have been null and void), (b) the marriage was annulled, (c) neither party has since married, or formed a civil partnership with, a third party, and (d) neither party has been issued with a full gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 since the solemnization of the parties’ previous marriage.	“Previously married at … on … Marriage annulled on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous marriage and the date of its annulment).
11.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of marriage with each other (other than a marriage known to have been null and void), (b) the marriage was terminated by divorce, (c) neither party has since married, or formed a civil partnership with, a third party, and (d) a full gender recognition certificate has been issued under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to either or each of the parties since the solemnization of the parties’ previous marriage.	If (and only if) both parties so request, the following words must be entered in the form of a single entry in relation to both parties— “Previously married at … on … Marriage dissolved on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous marriage and the date of its dissolution). If no request is made by the parties for a single entry in those terms, the words to be entered are— “Previous marriage dissolved”. But if a party requests the word “Single” to be entered in relation to that party instead of the words “Previous marriage dissolved”, the word to be entered in relation to that party is— “Single”.
12.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of marriage with each other (other than a marriage known to have been null and void), (b) the marriage was annulled, (c) neither party has since married, or formed a civil partnership with, a third party, and (d) a full gender recognition certificate has been issued under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to either or each of the parties since the solemnization of the parties’ previous marriage.	If (and only if) both parties so request, the following words must be entered, in the form of a single entry in relation to both parties— “Previously married at … on … Marriage annulled on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous marriage and the date of its annulment). If no request is made by the parties for a single entry in those terms, the words to be entered are— “Previous marriage annulled”. But if a party requests the word “Single” to be entered in relation to that party instead of the words “Previous marriage annulled”, the word to be entered in relation to that party is— “Single”.
13.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of civil partnership with each other (other than a civil partnership known to be void), (b) the civil partnership was terminated by final order of dissolution, (c) neither party has since formed a civil partnership with, or married, a third party, and (d) neither party has been issued with a full gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 since the formation of the parties’ previous civil partnership.	“Previously formed a civil partnership at … on … Civil partnership dissolved on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous civil partnership and the date of its dissolution).
14.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of civil partnership with each other (other than a civil partnership known to be void), (b) the civil partnership was annulled, (c) neither party has since formed a civil partnership with, or married, a third party, and (d) neither party has been issued with a full gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 since the formation of the parties’ previous civil partnership.	“Previously formed a civil partnership at … on … Civil partnership annulled on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous civil partnership and the date of its annulment).
15.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of civil partnership with each other (other than a civil partnership known to be void), (b) the civil partnership was terminated by final order of dissolution, (c) neither party has since formed a civil partnership with, or married, a third party, and (d) a full gender recognition certificate has been issued under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to either or each of the parties since the formation of the parties’ previous civil partnership.	If (and only if) both parties so request, the following words must be entered, in the form of a single entry in relation to both parties— “Previously formed a civil partnership at … on … Civil partnership dissolved on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous civil partnership and the date of its dissolution). If no request is made by the parties for a single entry in those terms, the words to be entered are— “Previous civil partnership dissolved”. But if a party requests the word “Single” to be entered in relation to that party instead of the words “Previous civil partnership dissolved”, the word to be entered in relation to that party is— “Single”.
16.	The circumstances are that— (a) the parties have previously been through a form of civil partnership with each other (other than a civil partnership known to be void), (b) the civil partnership was annulled, (c) neither party has since formed a civil partnership with, or married, a third party, and (d) a full gender recognition certificate has been issued under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to either or each of the parties since the formation of the parties’ previous civil partnership.	If (and only if) both parties so request, the following words must be entered, in the form of a single entry in relation to both parties— “Previously formed a civil partnership at … on … Civil partnership annulled on …” (including in the appropriate places particulars of the place and date of the previous civil partnership and the date of its annulment). If no request is made by the parties for a single entry in those terms, the words to be entered are— “Previous civil partnership annulled”. But if a party requests the word “Single” to be entered in relation to that party instead of the words “Previous civil partnership annulled”, the word to be entered in relation to that party is— “Single”.

Prescribed content of marriage schedule: particulars about the parties’ parents

9C.— (1) A superintendent registrar required to issue a marriage schedule under section 31(2) of the Act must enter the particulars required in space 7 (particulars of parents) on form 11A, 11A(w), 11B or 11B(w) (as the case may be) in accordance with this regulation in relation to each party to the proposed marriage.

(2) Where a party provides the superintendent registrar with the required particulars of a parent of that party for inclusion in the marriage schedule, the superintendent registrar must—

(a) enter those particulars in the column relating to that party,

(b) if informed by the party that the parent has died, enter the word “deceased” after the parent’s surname, and

(c) if provided with the parent’s former occupation and informed by the party that the parent has or had retired from that occupation, enter the word “retired” after that occupation.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), where a party provides the superintendent registrar with the required particulars of a step-parent of that party for inclusion in the marriage schedule, the superintendent registrar must—

(a) enter those particulars in the column relating to that party,

(b) enter the word “step-parent” after the step-parent’s surname,

(c) if informed by the party that the step-parent has died, enter the word “deceased” after the word “step-parent”, and

(d) if provided with the step-parent’s former occupation and informed by the party that the step-parent has or had retired from that occupation, enter the word “retired” after that occupation.

(4) The superintendent registrar must not enter any particulars of any step-parent of a party under paragraph (3) if entering all the required particulars of step-parents provided by the party for inclusion in the marriage schedule would result in particulars of more than four individuals in total being entered in space 7 in relation to that party (including particulars of any parent of the party).

(5) The superintendent registrar must not enter any particulars of a party’s parents or step-parents other than the particulars (if any) which this regulation requires the superintendent registrar to enter.

(6) Where the superintendent registrar is not required by this regulation to enter any particulars at all in space 7 in relation to a party, the superintendent registrar must draw a line in ink, or cause a line to be printed, through that space in the column relating to that party.

(7) In this regulation, “the required particulars” of a parent or step-parent are the parent’s or step-parent’s—

(a) name and surname, and

(b) current occupation or, if the parent or step-parent has no current occupation or has died, former occupation (if any).

Form of certificate issued in England or Wales for marriage in Scotland

9D.— (1) The form of a certificate for marriage to be issued under section 31(2) of the Act as applied by section 1(3) of the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1956 (issue of approved certificate in England or Wales for marriage to be solemnized in Scotland)(1) is form 12 if the certificate is issued in England, or form 12(w) if the certificate is issued in Wales.

(2) Regulation 2 applies for the purposes of the interpretation of paragraph (1) of this regulation as it extends to Scotland as well as to England and Wales; and the requirements of regulation 3 in relation to the completion of form 12(w) apply in relation to the completion of form 12(w) prescribed by paragraph (1) of this regulation as it extends to Scotland as well as to England and Wales.”

(1)

Section 1(3) was amended by paragraph 53(2) of Schedule 1 to the Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021.