Legal prerequisites for 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, divorced, a former civil partner of a civil partnership that ended through death or dissolution, or have had a civil annulment of a marriage or civil partnership or a valid foreign divorce or dissolution.
• 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" below on prohibited degrees.

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

Age requirement

If you are ordinarily resident in the Irish State, the minimum age at which you may marry is 18 years (unless you have a Court Exemption Order). This is the case even if you marry outside of Ireland. Even if you are not ordinarily resident in the Irish State, you must be over 18 years of age if you wish to marry someone in Ireland who is ordinarily resident in the State.

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

Exemption from age requirement

In certain special circumstances, you may be able to get a Court Exemption Order allowing the marriage to proceed even if one or both parties are under 18. The court will require you to show:

• That there are good reasons for your application
• That the granting of such an Exemption Order is in the best interests of the parties to the intended marriage

You should contact either the Circuit Family Court or the High Court for details on how to proceed. This is an informal procedure. You may apply in person (without hiring a solicitor). There is no court charge for an application for a Court Exemption Order. However, if you hire a solicitor to represent you, you will have to pay him/her.

A foreign divorce

Not all foreign divorces are recognised under Irish law. A foreign divorce will only be recognised in Ireland if at least one spouse was domiciled in the state that granted the divorce when the proceedings started. You may have to provide good evidence that this was the case and, therefore, that the divorce is valid under Irish law.

Where the divorce comes within EU regulations, it is sufficient to confirm that both parties to the divorce were notified of the proceedings and had an opportunity to give evidence to the court which granted the divorce.

Where EU regulations do not apply, certain information as to place of birth, countries of residence and other relevant facts must be supplied on a questionnaire provided by the Registrar. The information is then forwarded to the General Register Office, whose consent is required before the marriage ceremony can take place.

If the Heneral Registrar is of the opinion that the foreign divorce is valid, then the new marriage can go ahead. If not, you can provide additional information to prove validity or else you can apply for a hearing before the Circuit Court. The Court's decision on the validity of a foreign divorce in Irish law is final and binding, although you may, of course, appeal to a higher court. If the Court decides that your foreign divorce is not binding, your only option if you wish to remarry in Ireland may be to get a divorce under Irish law.

A foreign dissolution

If a legal dissolution of a civil partnership is granted outside Ireland, it will be recognised under Irish law if the Minister of Justice and Equality has made an order recognising the appropriate class of legal relationship in the country in which the dissolution was granted.