Legal prerequisites for marriage

Information

Getting married is a serious commitment. Marriage is a legally binding contract that will affect both parties (and, to a certain extent, their children) for all of their lives. There are a number of strict rules and regulations governing marriage. The first set of rules specifies who may and may not marry each other and in what circumstances.

Once you have fulfilled these conditions and are sure that you are entitled to marry, you should consider how you wish to marry. There are several different ways (religious and civil) of solemnising a marriage so that it is legally binding.

Please note that this section deals only with the legal requirements for the capacity to marry. If you are marrying through a religious ceremony, you should discuss the religious requirements with the celebrant of your marriage.

Rules

To contract a legally valid marriage in Ireland the parties to the marriage must:

• have the capacity to marry each other
• freely consent to the marriage. Free consent may be absent if, at the time of the marriage, a person is suffering from intoxication, brain damage, mental disability, mental instability or insanity to the extent that he/she is not able to understand the implications of marriage. Additionally, if someone agrees to marry because of threats or intimidation, his/her apparent consent may also be invalid and the marriage may be void.
• observe the necessary formalities

Capacity to marry

To be legally entitled to marry, both of you must fulfil all of the following requirements at the time the marriage takes place. Both parties must:

• Be over 18 years of age or have a Court Exemption Order if this is not the case.
• Have given the Registrar three months notification of the marriage  (or have a Court Exemption Order if this is not the case) and have been issued by the Registrar with a Marriage Registration Form.
• Be either single, widowed or divorced in Ireland or have a State Annulment or a valid foreign divorce.
• Be of opposite sexes - for legal purposes, a person's gender is deemed to be the one he/she had at birth, even if he/she subsequently had medical procedures to alter his/her gender.
• Have the mental capacity to understand the nature of marriage
• Not be related by blood or marriage to a degree that prohibits you in law from marrying each other. If you are related to your proposed spouse by blood or by marriage, you should contact a solicitor to ensure that you do not fall within the prohibited degree of relationship. (See further information on prohibited degrees by clicking on the More about this topic tab at the top of this page.  

If either party doesn't fulfil even one of the above requirements, any subsequent marriage ceremony is legally void.

There is no requirement for parental consent to a marriage, irrespective of the ages of the parties concerned.