Registrar help is my marriage invalid been married 25 years!

ragdoll

About to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with a cruise and got out our marriage certificate and have just noticed we put his step dad's name in the place where it says fathers name, his step dad also witnessed it along with my dad. Have never ever even thought about it or looked at the certificate since the day we married, but just looked and it jumped straight out at me! Does anyone know if this is actually an issue or nothing to be concerned over

thorsoak

Was your OH's mother divorced or widowed? If she was widowed, then her husband would become his step-father and I cannot see that there would have been any problem. Were they divorced, then I can understand why it might not have been technically correct - but in the great scheme of things, I do not think that you'd find that your marriage is invalid! Why not give the local registrars a call on Tuesday just to see if anything needs to be corrected!

duchy

Isn't it annoying we always find this stuff on days government departments are shut.
As it was a mistake rather than a deliberate attempt to deceive -and was record keeping rather than the married couple's details odds are it won't invalidate the marriage but will just need to be corrected and there might be a fee to do so. You can be prosecuted for a untrue declaration but there would need to be intent proved so from what you've said it wouldn't apply in this case.

candlelight_2013

Morning Ragdoll,

Having been a Registrar in another life let me re-assure you that your marriage is perfectly valid. Had the error occurred in the details of you or your DH such as your marital status prior to this marriage then it would need to be looked at, but regarding Father's details this wouldn't be the first time a step father has been noted as Father because in some cases it is the only Father the person has known.

Your DH could always apply for a correction at a later date if he really wanted to, but after all this time I would leave it.

Stop worrying, enjoy your cruise and heres to another 25 years.

Candlelightx

ragdoll

Thank you everyone for the quick responses, dh's mum and stepdad were married, stepdad now sadly passed away. As soon as dh turned 18 he changed his name by deed poll to his mum and stepdads name as stepdad is the only dad he knew. So on the certificate it looks correct as dh and stepdad have same surname. Will carry on as before and put it back in the drawer!

Savvy_Sue

candlelight_2013 wrote: »

Had the error occurred in the details of you or your DH such as your marital status prior to this marriage then it would need to be looked at,

As I went to sign my marriage certificate, I hissed at the minister "You've spelled my surname wrong, AGAIN!" He hurriedly corrected it and hissed back "It's the last time it will happen though."

alexjonsson

My wife listed her step-dad (who is dead and was so on our wedding day) on our marriage certificate, even though her biological father is alive and well.

She's semi-estranged from her real father and was much closer to her step-dad before he died. We've never thought it would be a problem, and have certainly never questioned the legalities of it.

Mojisola

Anyone who does family research will have found step-fathers being listed as fathers, grandfathers being listed as fathers and, sometimes, completely imaginary men being listed when the father wasn't known.

dianetheartist

I married William Donald an on his birth certificate his name is Donald William,,,,is that legal? He is known as William Donald everywhere except the docs for some reason...

candlelight_2013

Diane that is fine. Usually we would have put a cross reference on your marriage cert. i.e. William Donald ........otherwise Donald William........

You can call yourself any name you want as long as you are not using it for illegal reasons. but there comes a time when you need some documentation to show the change of name. Amazingly many people are known by their middle name, my own Aunt included.

Of course as Mojisola says none of these discrepancies help if you are doing family research, but that is something else.

Candlelightx

Errata

dianetheartist wrote: »

I married William Donald an on his birth certificate his name is Donald William,,,,is that legal? He is known as William Donald everywhere except the docs for some reason...

Exactly the same thing happened with my dad's name. Nobody has ever picked up on it and after umpteen decades I don't expect anyone will.