Confusion on marriage certificate

marvillus

When my Husband and I married it was found a few years later that the two dates of marriage entered on the certificate were a yr different. These dates were entered by the registrar at the time of the marriage. Now we are separated (several:question: months ago) and want to know if the marriage certificate was legal as the above happened but not noticed previously. Could we divorce on a technicality that the document was not done correctly ?

theoretica

I was recently at a wedding and the registrar said 'now you are married' before doing the paperwork so I think that your idea won't work.

Mojisola

marvillus wrote: »

When my Husband and I married it was found a few years later that the two dates of marriage entered on the certificate were a yr different. These dates were entered by the registrar at the time of the marriage.

It's possible that the mistake was only on the certificate and not in the register itself.

Either way, I don't see how it would invalidate your marriage - the ceremony still happened.

starfish1975

My name was spelt wrong on my marriage certificate... I had to pay to get it amended before I could get a divorce!!

[Deleted User]

Hi,

so you are saying that 'technically' you were never legally married?

Which I would think will greatly reduce your right to a financial settlement.

Any children produced will be illegitimate.

rosie-lee

The marriage contract is a verbal one.
If neither party chose to sign the marriage entry in the register, the marriage would still be legal. The Deputy Superintendent Registrar & the Registrar would still sign to witness that the verbal contract willingly & freely took place.
If either party dropped dead immediately after both parties have said one of the 3 options of contracting words ending with 'take you as husband/wife'. You are married.
If you change your mind before exchanging rings. Tough. You are married.

OP, is the date of marriage in column 1 of your marriage cert, the correct one?
The only other date will be at the bottom. A date of issue?
Either way, a correct copy of the entry, known as a marriage certificate can be produced for you. If you contact the registrars in the district where you live, they will spoil the incorrect one & replace it free with a correct one.

iolanthe07

What rosie-lee writes is correct. The same thing is true of a church wedding. If you dropped down dead after the vows but before signing the register at the end of the service, you would still be married.

StuC75

But as one of the vows is 'Till death do us part'..

iolanthe07 wrote: »

What rosie-lee writes is correct. The same thing is true of a church wedding. If you dropped down dead after the vows but before signing the register at the end of the service, you would still be married.

TBagpuss

As others have said, you marriage is valid. (and if it weren't, getting a declaration that it was void would be much more complex and expensive than getting a divorce would be!)

You will need to contact the Register Office to get the certificate corrected. You may need to sign a declaration confirming the correct date of the marriage, but I suspect that they will be able to correct it without, as they will be able to see by the position in the book, which date is accurate.
It's also possible that if you simply apply for a duplicate it may be correct, as the error may only be on the copy you have, the one at the register office from which they would produce a duplicate may be correct.

iolanthe07

But as one of the vows is 'Till death do us part'..

Well, quite. But legally you would be a widow(er), which could have all sorts of implications regarding inheritance etc., especially in the absence of a Will.