The paperwork… In Australia, there’s technically no such thing as a ‘shot-gun wedding’… It’s wife or death! Kidding… Before you marry, Australian law requires that you complete a Notice of Intention of Marriage. It’s a simple 2-pager that must be lodged with me no less than one month and one day and no more than eighteen months prior to your marriage ceremony. I’ll provide this at our first meeting, or you can download it here:
You’ll also need to dig up your original Birth Certificate or authorized extract; if you can’t find it, go to Births/Death/Marriages in your state and get a new one (It’ll set you back about $35)
If you were born overseas your Birth Certificate is preferred but if you can’t produce it then your overseas passport will be accepted.
Just a word of advice, if you can’t produce a Birth Certificate, an Australian passport is not sufficient… statutory declarations can only be used if you have been born overseas and cannot produce a Birth Certificate or overseas passport.
Have you tied the knot before? You probably already know the drill… Don’t believe in “once bitten, twice shy”? Great! If you have been married before and divorced, then I must sight an original copy of your Notice of Divorce/Annulment. If, in the unfortunate event, that your previous spouse has died, then the original copy of the Death Certificate is needed. These
documents must be produced before your marriage can take place.
What ‘s next?
Before your wedding, you will need to sign a declaration stating that you believe there is no impediment to the marriage between yourself and your future husband/wife… as in, you’re not brother/sister, or anything weird like that!
Finally, on your actual wedding day, you will sign my wedding register and other documents… the ‘pretty ones’!
You will need two witnesses who are both over the age of 18, so keep the champagne to a minimum for now!
