Marriage: what conditions must be met and what may hinder this union

Required documents

To register a marriage, the couple provides the registry office employees with the following package of documents:

• application for concluding a marital union;
• passports;
• a receipt confirming the fact of payment of the state duty;
• if one of the applicants registers a marriage not for the first time - a divorce certificate;
• for widowed people - death certificate of the spouse;
• for applicants aged 16-17 years - permission from employees of local administrative authorities to register a marriage or a document stating that the minor has reached legal capacity.

The application must contain the following information:

• Full name of the future husband and wife;
• date of birth of the applicants, their age (as of the date of marriage registration, not the date of submission of the application);
• place of birth according to passport data;
• citizenship;
• nationality (not required to fill out the column);
• address of current place of residence;
• passport details - series, number (instead of a passport, it is allowed to indicate the details of a military ID);
• after a divorce in the past or the death of a former spouse - details of documents that confirm this fact;
• if the court declared the previous marriage invalid - a document confirming such a decision;
• desired surname (it is possible to take the spouse’s surname, create a double surname, or leave a premarital surname).

The application is drawn up in writing or electronically and then printed. It is necessary to indicate exact passport data, including the letters е and й, which are sometimes found in full names and names of settlements. The date of submission of the application and the signature of the couple are indicated exclusively under the supervision of a registry office employee. When signing the document, the couple writes their premarital surname.

Download a sample application form to the registry office for marriage registration (form No. 7)

The above package of documents can be expanded depending on the specific situation. The list of required documents is discussed below.

Property relations in marriage

Common joint property is property that was acquired during a family marriage at the expense of the joint income of both spouses (Clause 2 of Article 34 of the RF IC). Jointly acquired property is considered joint property regardless of whose name it was acquired in.

O is not the basis for creating joint ownership of property.

Joint ownership does not imply the determination of shares; all participants jointly own and use common property, and dispose of it by common consent. Participants in joint ownership do not have the right to alienate or donate their share without first determining it. Only after the allocation of his share, the common joint property passes into common shared property, where each participant acquires the right to independently dispose of his share of the property: give as a gift, transfer to other persons, pledge.

A different regime for property ownership may be determined by a marriage contract, the content of which includes the rights and obligations of spouses regarding the maintenance of property and the procedure for managing family expenses. A marriage contract can be concluded not only before the marriage is registered with state authorities, but also at any time during its validity; it can be terminated or changed at any time by mutual consent of the spouses. The document must be drawn up in writing and must be certified by a notary. The validity of the marriage contract is terminated simultaneously with the termination of the existence of the marriage union.

The content of the marriage contract should not contain conditions to limit legal capacity and violate the principles of equality of men and women in an official marriage.

In addition to common property, legally married persons may have personal property, in particular:

• property that belonged to the spouse before marriage;
• property that was received during marriage as a gift or as an inheritance;
• personal items (except for luxury items and jewelry).

The spouse has the right to own, use and dispose of this property at his own discretion. However, we note that Russian legislation also provides for the fact that the other spouse invests funds in personal property, which can significantly affect the increase in its value, which, in turn, provides grounds for the court to recognize it as common joint property.

Example. One of the spouses owned an apartment before marriage; the other party invested funds for its complete overhaul. Accordingly, this property becomes the common joint property of both spouses.

Marriage registration in exceptional circumstances

An application for marriage registration is submitted 1 month before the planned wedding day. But in the presence of exceptional life circumstances (pregnancy, the birth of a joint child, urgent long-term departure, serious illness), a marital union can be registered earlier, sometimes directly on the day of application.

In this case, you will need to submit documents that confirm the above circumstances. If the situation really does not require delay, then the registry office employees will most likely meet you halfway.

State registration of marriage

The procedure for registering marriage in the Russian Federation is regulated by:

• Chapter III. “State registration of marriage” of the Federal Law of November 15, 1997 No. 143-FZ (as amended on April 24, 2020) “On Civil Status Acts.”

In accordance with this Federal Law No. 143-FZ:

• the basis for state registration of marriage is a joint application of the persons entering into marriage;
• State registration of marriage is carried out by any civil registry office (ZAGS) on the territory of the Russian Federation at the choice of the persons entering into marriage.

Procedure for filing an application for marriage

The procedure for filing an application for marriage is established by Article 26 “Application for marriage” of Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Civil Status Acts”.

Persons wishing to get married:

• submit a joint application for marriage to the registry office in writing in person or
• send an application for marriage in the form of an electronic document through a single portal of state and municipal services (State Services) and regional portals of State Services;
• the application, which is sent in the form of an electronic document, is signed with a simple electronic signature of each applicant.

The application for marriage and the necessary documents can be submitted through the multifunctional center for the provision of state and municipal services (MFC).

The joint application for marriage must also include the following information:

• Full name, date and place of birth, citizenship, marital status before marriage (unmarried, divorced, widowed), place of residence of each person wishing to get married;
• nationality, education and, if these persons have common children who have not reached the age of majority, their number (indicated at the request of the persons entering into marriage);
• surnames chosen by persons entering into marriage;
• details of identity documents of those entering into marriage;
• details of a document confirming the termination of a previous marriage if the person(s) were previously registered in marriage;
• selected date and time of state registration of marriage.

Persons wishing to register a marriage sign a joint application for marriage and indicate the date of its preparation.

Simultaneously with submitting a joint statement of desire to get married in writing, you must present in PERSON:

• documents proving the identity of citizens wishing to get married;
• a document confirming the termination of a previous marriage if the person(s) was previously married. If the state registration of the dissolution of a previous marriage was carried out by the civil registry office to which the application for marriage was submitted, presentation of a document confirming the termination of the previous marriage is not required and the civil registry office, based on the information provided by the applicant in the application, establishes the fact of termination of the previous marriage on based on the record of the divorce deed available to him. In this case, the person (persons) wishing to enter into a marriage has the right to present a document confirming the termination of the previous marriage, on their own initiative;
• permission to marry before reaching marriageable age if the person(s) entering into marriage is a minor.

If a joint application for marriage is sent in the form of an electronic document:

• The originals of the above documents are submitted by the persons entering into marriage upon personal application to the civil registry office at the time appointed for state registration of marriage.

Clause 1 of Article 26 “Application for Marriage” of Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Civil Status Acts”

If one of the persons wishing to register a marriage is unable to appear at the registry office or at the MFC to submit a joint application:

• the expression of will of persons wishing to enter into marriage may be formalized in separate applications for marriage;
• the signature of such a person’s application must be notarized, except for the case if the application is sent through a single portal of State Services and regional portals of State Services;
• The signature of a suspect or accused in custody, or a convicted person serving a sentence in a correctional institution, certified by the head of the place of detention or the head of a correctional institution, is equivalent to the notarized signature of a person executed on an application for marriage.

Clause 1 of Article 26 “Application for Marriage” of Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Civil Status Acts”

The procedure for state registration of marriage

State registration of marriage is carried out subject to the conditions provided for:

• Clause 1 of Article 12 “Conditions for marriage”,
• Article 13 “Marriage age” and
• Article 156 “Marriage on the territory of the Russian Federation” of the Family Code of the Russian Federation.

Marriage and state registration of marriage are carried out:

• after 1 month and no later than 12 months from the date of filing a joint application for marriage to the registry office;
• the date and time of state registration of marriage are determined by persons wishing to register a marriage when they submit a joint application for marriage in the manner established by Article 26 “Application for Marriage” of Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Acts of Civil Status”, by selecting available dates and times from the intervals determined by the selected civil registry office in the federal information system.

The date and time of state registration of marriage cannot be changed in the future, except for the cases specified in paragraph 3 of Article 27 “Procedure for state registration of marriage” of Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Civil Status Acts”.

Clause 2 of Article 27 “Procedure for state registration of marriage” of Federal Law No. 143-FZ “On Civil Status Acts”

Upon a joint application of persons wishing to register a marriage, marriage and state registration of marriage can be carried out before the expiration of a month from the date of submission of the application to the registry office:

• if there are good reasons, the civil registry office at the place of state registration of marriage may allow marriage to be concluded before the expiration of a month from the date of filing the application for marriage;
• in the presence of special circumstances (pregnancy, birth of a child, immediate threat to the life of one of the parties and other special circumstances), the marriage can be concluded on the day the application is submitted.

Article 11 “Procedure for marriage” of the Family Code of the Russian Federation

State registration of marriage:

• carried out in the presence of persons wishing to register the marriage;
• at the request of persons wishing to register a marriage, state registration of marriage can be carried out in a solemn atmosphere.

In the event that persons wishing to register a marriage (one of the persons) cannot appear at the registry office due to serious illness or other valid reason:

• State registration of marriage can be carried out at home, in a medical or other organization in the presence of persons wishing to register the marriage.

State registration of marriage with a person in custody or serving a sentence in prison:

• is carried out in a room determined by the head of the relevant institution in agreement with the head of the civil registry office.

State registration of marriage between:

• persons of whom at least one person is already in another registered marriage;
• close relatives (relatives in a direct ascending and descending line (parents and children, grandfather, grandmother and grandchildren), full and half (having a common father or mother) brothers and sisters);
• adoptive parents and adopted children;
• persons of whom at least one person has been declared incompetent by a court due to a mental disorder.

Article 14 “Circumstances preventing marriage” of the Family Code of the Russian Federation

The head of the civil registry office may refuse state registration of a marriage:

• if he has evidence confirming the presence of circumstances that impede marriage.

If you have any questions about the violation of your rights, or you find yourself in a difficult life situation, then an online duty lawyer is ready to advise you on this issue for free.

MARRIAGE. MARRIAGE REGISTRATION

How to refuse

If the bride or groom changes their mind about registering their relationship officially, each of them can withdraw the application. You don’t have to write an explanatory note or come up with reasons for this.

Come and say that you want to unregister. If you go in person, then don't forget to take your passport with you. If the documents were submitted online, then call the registry office and tell them that you will not come on the appointed date.

If at least one of the newlyweds does not come to the registry office on the appointed day, then the marriage will not be registered, this is stated in paragraph 4 of Art. 27 of the Law “On Civil Status Acts”.