There are different types of weddings in Nigeria.
We have traditional, white, Islamic and court weddings amongst others.
If you want to have a wedding that is stress-free, cost-effective, and fast, then you should consider a court wedding.
Other types of weddings require a long duration of planning, expenses, stress, and so on.
A court wedding or marriage is also known as a “legal marriage”.
This is the legalisation of a marriage by a court registry between two people who have agreed to live together as husband and wife.
Legal marriage is a frequent type of marriage in Nigeria, and it is governed by the Marriage Act 1914, the law that governs the procedure for conducting a marriage in Nigeria.
The requirements for a Nigerian court wedding are:
Notice Of Marriage
Intending husband and wife must give a Notice of Intention to a registry of their choice.
A registry is a government body that oversees all marriages to be performed in Nigeria, solemnises all marriages and maintains a record of all marriages contracted in Nigeria.
If you want to marry in Nigeria, you can go to any registry of your choice and have a form of notice of your planned marriage issued to you by the Registrar of the Registry where your marriage is to take place.
When you receive this form from the registrar, fill it out, sign it correctly, and send it to the registrar along with two colored passport photographs.
According to Section 8 of the Marriage Act, the Registrar shall enter your notice of marriage into the Marriage Notice Book.
The Registrar will cause this Notice of Marriage to be published by affixing a copy of the Notice to the outer door of the Registrar’s Office and exposing it there until the period of three weeks elapses or until the Registrar grants his certificate.
Certificate Of The Registrar
When your Notice of Marriage expires, you must pay the Registry of Marriage’s stipulated fee. After paying the necessary price, you must submit an affidavit stating that:
You are a resident of the district in which the marriage is to be held.
Each of the parties is of legal drinking age, and the requisite consent has been received.
The marriage is not hampered by kinship, kindred, or any other legal barrier.
By customary law, neither of the parties to the intended marriage is married to anybody other than the person with whom such a marriage is supposed to be contracted.
The registrar will sign and issue you a certificate if you have met these criteria.
License Of The Minister
Once the Minister has proved that there is no legal impediment to your proposed marriage and that the necessary consent to the marriage has been obtained, he shall forego the giving of notice and the issuance of the Registrar’s Certificate and grant his license, known as Form.
This minister’s license enables the marriage celebration between the parties mentioned in the license. As a result, once you obtain the minister’s license, you will be able to marry in Nigeria.
Caveat
A caveat is a warning that forbids someone from committing an act. Caveat refers to the opposition to an intended marriage in this context.
This is done by any person who has or knows of any just cause why he or she believes the intended marriage should not take place. That person will fill a caveat against the issue of the registrar’s certificate, as provided for in Section 14 of the Marriage Act 1914.
When a caveat is filed against the issuing of a certificate, the registrar refers the matter to a judge of the state high court, who summons the parties to the intended marriage and the person who filed the caveat to appear in court.
The judge will order the individual who filed the caveat to provide justification for why the registrar should not issue his certificate.
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If no just cause is presented or if the judge decides that the certificate should be issued, he must remove the caveat by replacing the phrase “forbidden” in the marriage notice with the words “Canceled by decision of the High Court” and signing his name.
The registrar will then issue his certificate, and the marriage will proceed as if the caveat had not been recorded.
Legal Authorisation
When legal authority is granted by the Registrar, Minister, and High Court in the case of a caveat, the parties to the intended marriage must select a wedding date that is within three months of the date the notification was filed with the Registry.
Celebration Of Marriage
According to Section 21 of the Marriage Act, the parties to the intended marriage should celebrate the marriage in any licensed place of worship by any recognised minister of the church in accordance with the church’s rituals of marriage.
During the celebration, the principal registrar shall have the certificate of marriage printed and presented to the various registrars as well as the authorised minister of the licensed place of worship.
The officiating minister, the parties to the marriage and two or more witnesses to the marriage must then sign this certificate in duplicate.
The Minister must additionally sign his name on the counterfeit and cut the duplicate certificate from it.
As a result, the Minister shall provide one certificate to the parties and, within seven days, convey the second certificate to the Registrar, who shall file it in his office.
Registration Of The Marriage Certificate
This is the last bus stop in Nigeria if you opt for a court marriage.
At this point, the Registrar will require that the marriage certificate be submitted in the wedding list book, which contains each wedding certificate, with the inclusion of a marriage certificate in this list book made in the order that marriages are contracted and the marriage certificate is signed.
Conclusion
There you go!
Court wedding is simple and straightforward.
All you need to do is follow the steps explained in this article, and you’re set to be legally married.
